Jewish Sightseeing HomePage Jewish Sightseeing
   1997-09-19: Metzger


San Diego
     County
San Diego

Anti-Defamation
     League
 

 
Metzger hate message invites callers to harass ADL director Morris Casuto

San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage. Sept.19.1997

 

By Donald H. Harrison

San Diego (special) -- White racist Tom Metzger recently used his telephone call-in line to urge false telephone calls to the ADL offices and to make public the home address, telephone number, pager numbers, car license plates and a credit card account number of Morris Casuto, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Metzger records his racist thoughts each week and encourages fellow racists to phone in. They are not the only ones who monitor Metzger's lines. The Anti-Defamation League regulary keeps track of him. So does law enforcement.

In the middle of a rambling message from Metzger monitored on Sept. 2 was an advisory which we quote below, minus the private information in question, out of consideration to the Casuto family:

"The Anti-Defamation League is very busy trying to take your right away to talk about race on the internet. They recommend a site www.hatewatch.org. Many times they put our web site addresses and so forth on there, so that's good, we don't care about that. If you'd like more information about scheduling an ADL speaker for your group, ha ha ha, then you can call 1-248-355-3730 anytime or email the Anti-Defamation League. Here's one at Detroit@ADL. org and say, 'Hey, come on over, we want an ADL speaker tonight.' Don't forget to call your group the Anti Discrimination group."

"In San Diego recently, the illustrious Turkish Jew, Morris S. Casuto, seems to have almost taken over the role as police spokesman," Metzger added on his message. "And I'm sure he could give you a lot of information about what he is interested in. His home phone is [deleted]. He's got a pager number of [deleted]. Another pager number of [deleted]. And if you see him run and go down the street, well, he's driving an [deleted], I believe it is, License Plate [deleted] and an [deleted] with plates [deleted], and that'll make him easier to find so you can ask him a few questions too.

"You might find his credit card laying around, that's a Chevron account: [deleted]. You should retrun it to him though. That would be nice if you find it laying around. And he hangs out at [home address deleted]. Now I'm sure he'll help you all he can with setting up a introduction program to the Anti-Defamation League."

The recording comes in the wake of the recent arrest of five people by La Mesa police on charges related to the false use of a La Mesa police emblem to spread white racist messages. Metzger attended the Aug. 28 arraignment for three of them and told reporters he considered their arrest to be a violation of the First Amendment. Further, he said, he intended to "raise the race issue even higher."

Casuto said he is examining whether Metzger's recorded message broke any laws or provides him with sufficient legal cause to bring civil action against Metzger.

"This information was put on Metzger's hate line for a very simple reason; it was designed to intimidate and frighten, not for an informational purpose," Casuto told HERITAGE. 

"If he wanted his supporters to learn about the ADL he could have put our office phone number and address on it. It was clearly designed to cause apprehension. Not knowing who listens to that line, it for a time accomplishes that purpose."

Asked Sept. 12 if he or his family had experienced any harrassment in the 10 days since the message was monitored, Casuto responded that they had not. However, he said, he was in New York City when he learned that the message had been posted, and cut short his trip to be with his family.

The stepped-up tension between the ADL and Metzger's White Aryan Resistance also comes as the National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League plans to hold its annual meeting in San Diego Sept. 25-27.

The fight against hate crimes and bigotry will be the subject of numerous 
panel discussions at the conference.