Pastor forgives accused teens

ARLINGTON — Pastor Jason Martin has reached out to the 16-year-old boys who are sitting in jail accused of burning a cross in front of his Arlington home on March 24.

Martin sent a letter to each of the boys, telling them he was saddened by what happened.

"These types of crimes bring back horrible memories of what my ancestors and our nation have gone through," wrote Martin, who is black. "Regardless, I cannot find it in my heart to hate you, so I instead offer you forgiveness through this letter and look forward to doing that in person."

But on Thursday, at the same time he was checking with prosecutors to make sure the boys had received his letter, Martin had to relay more disturbing news.

Pastor Carl Gabrielson of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Arlington was shocked to find a copy of a very different letter at the front door of the church on Sundayas he arrived to prepare for the Palm Sunday service.

"Cross-lighting in Arlington" was the anonymous letter’s title. The first lines said: "We support the young men accused of that ‘racist’ act. We applaud your actions! Don’t give in to the pressures of our society. What you did was not wrong — integration should not be promoted."

The letter continues, with white supremacist rants about fighting "the hordes of nonwhites that are invading our country." It also encourages the boys to "stay proud and true to your racial beliefs" and specifically praises the "cross-lighting at a black pastor’s rural home."

Gabrielson, who is white, said he was shocked.

"I don’t know how you deal with people who think like this, because by my way of thinking, it makes no sense," he said.

He told his congregation about the letter at the end of the service Sunday, and the gasp of surprise was audible, he said.

Residents have turned in half a dozen copies of the letter, Arlington Police Chief John Gray said. Some were found on the front steps of downtown businesses, others in Haller Park, plus the one at the Lutheran church.

Police have no leads yet, Gray said.

"The condition of the paper and the multiple handling of the people involved doesn’t lend itself to fingerprints easily," he said.

Martin worried that the community might not be taking the issue seriously enough.

"I’m just kind of curious if the authorities consider this a closed case," Martin said. "I think the community is fooling themselves if they think that those two (boys) are the only two."

The Herald does not typically name minors accused in juvenile court.

Arlington’s police chief said his department is not minimizing the incidents.

Phrases used in the anonymous letter such as cross lighting instead of cross burning, indicate to Gray that the writer is well-versed in the language of the white supremacy movement.

Mark Potok, a spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., agreed. His group monitors racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

"Whoever wrote that pamphlet is in the movement," Potok said. "Cross lighting really became a popular phrase around the time David Duke became part of the Klan leadership in the late ’70s, early ’80s. It was a part of the sanitizing of the Klan to make it seem like a kinder, gentler organization."

The letter writer was probably not among the movement’s leaders, because most racist groups sign their letters, Potok said.

Cross burnings nationwide have decreased in recent years from about 50 a year to about 30, Potok said.

But residents should think hard about the examples of Jasper, Texas, where a black man was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck, or Laramie, Wyo., where a gay man was beaten to death, Potok said.

"I think there’s a natural reaction on the part of any community to say, ‘This is not us’ and to wish it would go away," he said. "The reality is that virtually every community in America has racial tensions of some sort."

The communities that have succeeded in countering racism often form coalitions or task forces that include diverse representation from all walks of life and ethnic groups, Potok said.

Martin, for his part, has taken an early step by offering to meet the boys accused of the cross burning. According to police reports, the boys said when they were arrested they would like to apologize to the Martin family in person.

"I’d like to see that happen, something positive for our nation rather than all the negative stuff we have to look at," Martin said.

Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.

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