Is It a Hotbed for Skinheads, or Isn’t It? : * There Are Conflicting Reports, but Huntington Beach Is Right to Try to Find Out

Several years ago, a skinhead who was arrested in Fullerton told police that Huntington Beach was “the hotbed for skinheads.” Now there’s an association to give fits to any city’s image polishers, or to make its local real estate agents and downtown developers nervous.

Well, is there any truth to it? In a recent FBI crackdown, two of eight people arrested had attended Marina High School in Huntington Beach. The Fourth Reich Skinheads, whose members allegedly planned to start a race war, held meetings in that city.

Some officials believe that the city is a gathering spot for skinheads, but there are those who say that it is no more so than for other cities in the county. Huntington Beach does have several police officers who, because of their interest in skinheads, have developed considerable information on them, and they have learned more than some police in other cities. And yet, not even all Huntington Beach police appear to view the situation uniformly; one officer was quoted recently as saying that it was a big city and if there were a few skinheads, so what.

There’s little doubt that Huntington Beach, with its new pier and spiffy waterfront, its clean air and agreeable atmosphere, is a city understandably more comfortable with its customary image as “Surf City” than as a center of extremism.

The fact is, there is no hard information one way or the other to prove or disprove any thesis that Huntington Beach attracts more white supremacists than other towns. But just having the reputation, or even the makings of one, is serious enough. Jonathan Bernstein, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, says that his review of the news shows that the city is indeed a focal point for skinhead activity.

The city should know, one way or the other. And to deal properly with the perception, it might be well, as City Councilwoman Linda Moulton-Patterson has suggested, to get a detailed report from the police on the status of the skinhead movement in the city. More concrete information is needed to combat stereotyping, to address concerns about improving the climate of tolerance, and to crack down on any lawbreakers.

The full sweep of humanity is evident along the shoreline in Huntington Beach most weekends, with its sun worshipers, surfers and tourists. Whether there are just a few skinheads among the crowd, or whether the city has been an attractive gathering place for white supremacists to meet, is worth getting a better handle on.