Episode 342: The Bergholz Beard-Cutting Attacks
A quaint, religiously conservative community in central Ohio turned into a violent gang after a power-hungry bishop declared himself the forever leader. He twisted scripture to encourage attacks and then the feds came knocking. This week’s episode is The Bergholz Beard-Cutting Attacks.
SOURCES
Amish convicted in beard-cutting attacks, History.com – This Day in History: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/amish-convicted-in-beard-cutting-attacks
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, Jossey-Bass: https://www.amazon.com/Amish-Grace-Forgiveness-Transcended-Tragedy/dp/0787997617
Amish man claims wife left him and their daughters after she was brainwashed by Amish beard-cutting 'cult', Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056425/Amish-man-claims-wife-left-daughters-brainwashed-Amish-beard-cutting-cult.html
Amish Sect Leader and Followers Guilty of Hate Crimes, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/jury-convicts-amish-group-of-hate-crimes.html
Amish Sect Leader Gets 15 Years in Beard-Cutting Attacks, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/us/amish-sect-leader-gets-15-years-in-beard-cutting-attacks.html
Amish Society, Johns Hopkins University Press: https://www.amazon.com/Amish-Society-John-A-Hostetler/dp/0801844428
An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community, Johns Hopkins University Press: https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/amish-paradox
Breakaway Amish: Growing Up with the Bergholz Beard Cutters, Herald Press: https://www.mennomedia.org/9781513800219/breakaway-amish/
Hate Crime Laws: What the Amish Beard Cutting Case Means for the Rest of Us, Time Magazine: https://time.com/3222552/hate-crime-laws-what-the-amish-beard-cutting-case-means-for-the-rest-of-us/
How the Justice Department Transformed an Amish Feud Into a Federal Case, Reason: https://reason.com/2012/09/21/how-the-justice-department-transformed-a/
Is Cutting Off a Beard a Hate Crime?, Bloomberg: https://archive.is/STDVH#selection-1147.0-1156.0
Judge Reduces Sentences For Amish Involved In Beard-Cutting Attacks, NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/03/02/390244303/judge-reduces-sentences-for-amish-involved-in-beard-cutting-attacks
Leader Of Amish Sect, 15 Others Found Guilty Of Hate Crimes In Beard Cuttings, NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/09/20/161492004/leader-of-amish-sect-15-others-found-guilty-of-hate-crimes-in-beard-cuttings
Samuel Mullet and Amish beard-cutters jailed in Ohio, BBC World Service: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-21389094
Renegade Amish: Beard Cutting, Hate Crimes, and the Trial of the Bergholz Barbers, Johns Hopkins University Press: https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/renegade-amish
Sam Mullet: Where is the Bergholz Clan Leader Now?, Moviedelic: https://moviedelic.com/sam-mullet/
United States v. Miller, 767 F.3d 585 (6th Cir. 2014): https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/14a0210p-06.pdf
United States v. Mullet et al., PACER (Federal Court Docket): https://pacer.uscourts.gov (search Case No. 5:11-cr-00594)
Amish Jailed in Hair-Cutting Attacks Get Lesser Sentences, NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amish-get-lesser-sentences-beard-cutting-attacks-n315966
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amish
https://www.visitamishcountry.com/history-traditions-local-lore
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/amish-who-is-amish/
https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/30/justice/amish-beard-cutting-attack-photo
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/16-sentenced-in-amish-beard-cutting-case
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2012/10/amish_community_in_bergholz_re.html
