Prosecution Accuses Metzger of Promoting Violence

The prosecution in the cross-burning trial of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Tom Metzger began its cross-examination Wednesday, accusing the avowed white racist of promoting violence and terror to further his cause of racial separation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dale Davidson questioned Metzger for 2 1/2 hours on past Klan activities and various items in his bimonthly tabloid newspaper, WAR.

“It’s open season on niggers, kikes, cops and capitalists. Kill them all and let the devil sort them out,” read the caption on a cartoon from Metzger’s White Aryan Resistance organization that Davidson showed the court.

Davidson also read a passage from WAR, stating: “How’s this for a new slogan for the Border Patrol? If it’s not white, waste it. Stop the mudslide or drown.”

Metzger, who heads WAR, testified that the newspaper draws from submissions from around the country. He said he has never advocated the use of violence. “I’ve told no one to be violent against anyone,” he said.

Later in his testimony, Metzger said he believed there were situations in which violence was justified.

“I don’t think I’ve ever said that I was completely nonviolent, a pacifist,” he said. “Every individual has the right to defend themselves.”

Metzger and three other defendants are charged with felony conspiracy to violate the municipal fire code and misdemeanor counts of unlawful burning and unlawful assembly. If found guilty, each faces a maximum sentence of 3 1/2 years in jail.

The prosecution claimed Metzger participated in planning a cross-burning in a racially mixed Kagel Canyon neighborhood in 1983.

Throughout the trial, Metzger has maintained that he had nothing to do with the event and attended only to deliver a speech that, in fact, opposed what he called such “passe” Klan rituals.

Metzger’s attorney, Darold Shirwo, said the cross-examination did not address whether Metzger was an organizer of the cross-burning.

“What came out is that the district attorney has nothing better to do than spend (2 1/2) hours going over his political beliefs,” Shirwo said. “But what about whether or not there was a violation of the Los Angeles municipal fire code?”

The prosecution was scheduled to continue cross-examining Metzger today.