Continued Hate Crimes Spark Anger in High Desert

Attacks against two African Americans in the Antelope Valley and the vandalism of the region’s only synagogue over the past 12 days have outraged community leaders who promised Tuesday to continue fighting bigotry and hate in the north Los Angeles County suburb.

“No group or people or organization should be the target of sentiments of hate or statements of bigotry. You feel violated. You feel angry,” said Natalie Angrisani, president of Temple Beth Knesset Bamidbar, a 135-member Reform synagogue in Lancaster.

On Monday morning, a 30-year-old African American man was walking near his Littlerock home when a white compact sedan carrying four young men stopped alongside him. They shouted racial epithets in Spanish before someone shot Kevin Naylor in the buttocks, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Sunday night or early Monday, someone drew swastikas and wrote anti-Semitic messages on the building of Temple Beth Knesset Bamidbar, authorities said. The temple had been vandalized about half a dozen times over the past few years.

On Jan. 14, a 15-year-old African American boy was attacked in Lancaster by three white youths. Authorities said the attackers had shaved heads and shouted racial slurs.

Except for their underlying themes of hate, authorities said, the three crimes appear to be unrelated. There are no suspects so far.

Community leaders vowed to fight back.

“We are in a war . . . and we are not backing down from our efforts to re-educate the community,” said Darren Parker, president of the Antelope Valley Human Relations Hate Crime Task Force. “They are trying to promote their message of hate, and we are trying to promote our message of one race--the human race, and zero tolerance of hate.”

He added, “It’s quite scary. These attacks seem random.”

Residents said the assaults call to mind a disturbing history of local hate crimes.

The shooting, in particular, is reminiscent of crimes against African Americans living in the Antelope Valley during the mid-1990s, Parker said. In 1995, skinheads shot at African Americans in a car. Also that year, three members of the same white supremacist group beat an African American man to death.

In Monday’s shooting, Naylor was walking on 110th Street East near Avenue R-8 about 9:30 a.m., said Sheriff’s Sgt. Vincent Burton.

Naylor, who is recovering at a hospital, told authorities that he did not recognize the men. Burton said no witnesses have been found.

Earlier, someone scrawled hate symbols and messages on the front door and side wall of Temple Beth Knesset Bamidbar, authorities and congregation members said. “The type of writing looked like kids’,” said Sheriff’s Det. Brian Schoonmaker. One of the words, “Nazi,” had been misspelled.

Authorities are examining Lancaster schools and buses for similar graffiti. “It was a unique penmanship,” Schoonmaker said. “We’re trying to match the type of letters . . . to identify the kid.”

“It’s disgusting,” said congregation member Judith Dutcher of Quartz Hill.

The Jan. 14 attack on the black teenager began about 5 p.m. A brown four-door sedan containing three white teenagers pulled up to the corner of 20th Street East and Avenue J-8 where the African American teenager was walking. The youths shouted “white power” and racial slurs, Schoonmaker said.

One youth jumped out of the car and tried to hit the 15-year-old, and the boy tried to hit back. Then two more youths emerged to beat him, Schoonmaker said.

The teenager suffered loosened teeth and a facial scrape, Schoonmaker said. The three youths, who wore red suspenders and red shoelaces, jumped into their car and drove away, he said.

“We’re dead serious about fighting hate crimes,” said Henry W. Hearns, vice mayor of Lancaster. The attacks underscored the need for increased tolerance, said Angrisani, the temple president.

“We need to keep educating our students, our young people, community at large,” she said.

“Education is the only way to dispel myths or fears people may have about things they don’t understand.”