LOS ANGELES: A Westminster man who fanned racial fears last summer when he bummed a four foot wooden cross in the yard. Of a black family was ordered Friday to spend 37 months in prison for the crime.
US.District Judge J. Spencer Letts, describing the cross bumming as outrageous in its racial bigotry, opted for the harshest punishment that he could give Gary Skillman, 24, under 1984’ sentencing guidelines.
‘Skillman, who gave several conflicting statements about the incident but declined to testify at his trial, told the judge in Santa Ana courtroom before sentencing, “I have nothing to say.”
Left to puzzle over the actions of a man described as a white supremacist were Alvin and Lillie Heisse Save r, the targets of the buming.
“Why would someone do something like this? We’ve been trying to find an answer to that for over 200 years,” said Alvin Heisser a past president of the local NAACP chapter. While satisfied with the sentence, Heiser said the painful memories “will never go away. It’ll be there forever burning in you.”
Skillman will remain in federal custody pending an appeal of the verdict and sentencing, according to his Attomey.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 14, 1989
