On the night of September 6, 2011, terror called at the Amish
home of the Millers. Answering a late-night knock from what
appeared to be an Amish neighbor, Mrs. Miller opened the door to
her five estranged adult sons, a daughter, and their spouses. It
wasn't a friendly visit. Within moments, the men, wearing
headlamps, had pulled their frightened father out of bed, pinned
him into a chair, and--ignoring his tearful protests--sheared his
hair and beard, leaving him razor-burned and dripping with blood.
The women then turned on Mrs. Miller, yanking her prayer cap from
her head and shredding it before cutting off her waist-long hair.
About twenty minutes later, the attackers fled into the darkness,
taking their parents' hair as a trophy for their community.
Four similar beard-cutting attacks followed, disfiguring nine
victims and generating a tsunami of media coverage. While pundits
and late-night talk shows made light of the attacks and poked fun
at the Amish way of life, FBI investigators gathered evidence about
troubling activities in a maverick Amish community near Bergholz,
Ohio--and the volatile behavior of its leader, Bishop Samuel
Mullet.
Ten men and six women from the Bergholz community were arrested
and found guilty a year later of 87 felony charges involving
conspiracy, lying, and obstructing justice. In a precedent-setting
decision, all of the defendants, including Bishop Mullet and his
two ministers, were convicted of federal hate crimes. It was the
first time since the 2009 passage of the Matthew Shepard and James
Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that assailants had been found
guilty for religiously motivated hate crimes within the same faith
community.
"Renegade Amish" goes behind the scenes to tell the full story
of the Bergholz barbers: the attacks, the investigation, the trial,
and the aftermath. In a riveting narrative reminiscent of a true
crime classic, scholar Donald B. Kraybill weaves a dark and
troubling story in which a series of violent Amish-on-Amish attacks
shattered the peace of these traditionally nonviolent people,
compelling some of them to install locks on their doors and arm
themselves with pepper spray.
The country's foremost authority on Amish society, Kraybill
spent six months assisting federal prosecutors with the case
against the Bergholz defendants and served as an expert witness
during the trial. Informed by trial transcripts and his interviews
of ex-Bergholz Amish, relatives of Bishop Mullet, victims of the
attacks, Amish leaders, and the jury foreman, "Renegade Amish"
delves into the factors that transformed the Bergholz Amish from a
typical Amish community into one embracing revenge and
retaliation.
Kraybill gives voice to the terror and pain experienced by the
victims, along with the deep shame that accompanied their
disfigurement--a factor that figured prominently in the decision to
apply the federal hate crime law. Built on Kraybill's deep
knowledge of Amish life and his contacts within many Amish
communities, "Renegade Amish" highlights one of the strangest and
most publicized sagas in contemporary Amish history.
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