The first report of someone spreading material about white supremacy in Hornell, NY, reached police early Sunday.
Police Chief, TJ Murray, said a worshiper who attended a service at Rehoboth Deliverance Ministries – a predominantly black church in the predominantly white city, about an hour south of Rochester – was found a flyer taped to the door, the police chief, TJ Murray, said in an interview Tuesday. . It had the words “Aryan National Army” on it and an image of a skull inside a swastika, he said.
By the end of the week, Police Chief Murray said, officers had found similar material all over town, mostly in plastic bags containing ice (presumably to keep them from getting damaged. blow away). These lines are located at entrances, driveways and parks; on the porch; and attached to the front of the Temple Beth-El synagogue.
Before dawn on Monday, the sheriff said, officers encountered two men who were distributing documents. After police searched their home, the men, Dylan Henry, 30, and Ryan Mulhollen, 27, and a woman, Aubrey Dragonetti, 31, were arrested and charged with 115 counts each. – one charge per leaflet – of hate crimes.
The mayor of Hornell, John Buckley, has described the city’s cover of racist, anti-racist material as “shocking” and misleading in what he and Sheriff Murray, a veteran of 40-year veteran of the Hornell police force, the two call “a close-knit community.”
Mr. Buckley said: “These are three individuals who are perverted and have hatred in their hearts. “This is something that doesn’t reflect Hornell.”
The city, a former railroad hub in Steuben County whose census data shows 93 percent white, is in the Southern Tier region of New York. Racist attitudes in the area drew scrutiny after a racist-driven gunman killed 10 black people at a Buffalo supermarket in May. The man charged in the massacre was from Conklin, NY, a Southern Tier village two hours east of Hornell.
Sandy Messing, 75, the synagogue’s secretary, said she was surprised to learn the temple had been targeted. Such an action is in stark contrast to her experience in the area, she said.
Ms Messing, who grew up in Hornell, spent most of her working life in Rochester and moved back to nearby Arkport after her retirement, said: “Nothing like this has happened in all these years. I was there. “There is no issue of race. No prejudice at all. “
Built in 1946, the Temple of Beth-El is listed on the state and national registers of historic sites as a symbol of the Jewish communities that have taken root in the small cities of upstate New York. York many years ago.
Jane Jamison, Ms. Messing’s predecessor secretary, said that even at its peak decades ago, only 34 families worshiped there regularly. Today, the church has been reduced to four families, and the synagogue is open only on High Holy Days and on certain other special occasions.
Ms. Jamison, 91, said she was also surprised that people had dumped anti-epidemic materials in Hornell. She moved to the area to attend Alfred University after growing up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and later settled in Hornell, which is attracted by its friendly atmosphere, small town and “worthy people” love”.
Ms Jamison, who taught at Hornell High School for 30 years before retiring, said: “It’s so relaxing.
While searching the residences of Henry, Mulhollen and Dragonetti, Police Chief Murray said officers found two computers and a cell phone number that the three had used to communicate with people. other on the distribution of documents.
Police Chief Murray said the investigation is continuing into the nature of those communications and into the Aryan National Army. Mr. Dragonetti, he said, was charged after officers determined she had prepared bags that men dropped around town.
The charges all three are facing, harassment aggravating the first degree, becomes the crime of “harassing, disturbing, threatening, or alarming others” because of “race, color, national origin, ancestry, their ancestry, gender, religion, religious practices, age, disability or sexual orientation. The Regulation specifically cites the use of a swastika or a noose in such harassment.
Mr. Mulhollen and Mr. Henry had served sentences in state prison – Mr. Mulhollen on drug charges and Mr. Henry on attempted assault and burglary charges, state records show.
Court officials said that after the arrangement on Monday, Mr. Henry was detained without bail. Mr. Mulhollen and Ms. Dragonetti were released on bail without bail. All three are expected to return to court this month. Could not be reached immediately for comment. Calls to the county’s Steuben district attorney and the county’s public defender have not been returned.
