Police: Young son intentionally shot white supremacist leader; motive unclear
Police are trying to make sense of the shooting death Sunday of a well-known white-supremacist leader, allegedly at the hands of his young son.
Authorities believe the boy, whose age was not released, did not shoot his father by accident.
"We believe it was an intentional act,'' said Riverside police Lt. Ed Blevins.
Officials have not speculated about a possible motive.
Jeff Russell Hall, 32, was Southwestern regional director of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based in Detroit. Police were called to his home at 4:04 a.m. Sunday and found a badly injured Hall lying on a couch.
Paramedics attempted to revive Hall, but he died at the scene, Blevins said. After interviewing Hall's wife and five children, police booked a minor son on a homicide charge, he said.
The boy was booked into Riverside County Juvenile Hall. Riverside County prosecutors are reviewing the case, Blevins said.
Hall's other children were taken into protective custody, he said. A neighbor told the Press-Enterprise that all of the couple's children are under the age of 12.
Another neighbor told the paper that the family could be intimidating, noting that at a recent Halloween party, they flew a swastika flag and guests wore KKK hoods.
Hall, a plumber, gained attention last year in his failed attempt to win a seat on an obscure water board in Riverside. His campaign was low profile, but Hall was open about his white-supremacist beliefs when questioned.
"I want a white nation," he told the Los Angeles Times last year. "I don't hide what I am, and I don't water that down."
As regional director of the National Socialist Movement, Hall helped lead demonstrations in Riverside and Los Angeles, where supporters waved swastika flags, chanted "white power" and gave stiff-armed Nazi salutes.
Hall also helped organize militia-type watches along the California and Arizona borders, with camouflage-clad volunteers on the lookout for illegal border crossers. On the National Socialist Movement website, group founder Jeff Schoep calls Hall a family man and a "dedicated American Patriot."
Blevins said a rifle and handgun were recovered from the home. It appears that Hall died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, but an autopsy is pending, Blevins said.
RELATED:
Neo-Nazi father shot to death by son, say police
Neo-Nazi running for seat on Riverside County water board
White supremacists, immigrant rights activists face off in Claremont
-- Catherine Saillant
Photo: Jeff Hall, shown in Riverside in 2009, was California director of the National Socialist Movement, the nation's biggest neo-Nazi group. Credit: Cal State San Bernardino Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism
EDITOR'S PICKS:
Nazi sympathizer and OBL on the same day; wow Hell must be getting really crowded.
Posted by: Marley | May 03, 2011 at 08:59 AM
It's people like this guy and Sarah Palin that hold America back in an adolescent stage...time to evolve folks
Posted by: John | May 03, 2011 at 09:05 AM
They shouldn't have arrested him. They should have given him a medal.
Posted by: lagtat | May 03, 2011 at 09:07 AM
It’s kind of ironic how this man, preached and felt so much hate towards others was to end up dying by the hands of his own young son… not sure what happened in that home but obviously his son was troubled with his environment…
Posted by: ECan90504 | May 03, 2011 at 09:09 AM
"Hall also helped organize militia-type watches along the California and Arizona borders" ---- good ol' Sheriff Arpaio must be mourning one of his cohorts.
Posted by: IAN | May 03, 2011 at 09:21 AM
C'mon guys, we can blame this on immigrants if we just try.
Posted by: Jackalope | May 03, 2011 at 09:24 AM
violence begets violence.
Posted by: frank bones | May 03, 2011 at 10:02 AM
It's a good day when a neighborhood can feel free to live in peace again. Hopefully his son will get some counseling and all the kids and the wife will get out of this white nation group and learn to be accepting of other cultures.
Posted by: LA Reader 2011 | May 03, 2011 at 10:19 AM
... all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52)
Posted by: Marcus | May 03, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Live by violence. Die by violence.
Posted by: KC | May 03, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Not sure what Palin & Arpaio have to do with this...
There's a big difference between a racist like this guy and people who want US laws obeyed & enforced.
Posted by: AZ Immigration Supporter | May 03, 2011 at 10:54 AM
The same evil he had towards people of different races and color, fell apon him. and by the hands of his own son.
Posted by: mamas7 | May 03, 2011 at 11:11 AM
According to THEM, this guy would have been an American Hater. A strict definition of American Hater needs to be established. Not necessarily a Constitutional Amendment but a strict one-time defintion covering ALL bases. Back THEM into a corner regarding THEIR terms.
The common people have always needed to know the rules.
Caesar said, "make it so, let it be written." He did NOT say, "make it so, we will change the rules when it becomes necessary to get on our Marx, get set, stop. When we begin to lose, then we will change the rules."
Make up my mind, will you?
Posted by: Michael Boyd | May 03, 2011 at 11:12 AM
Those who say that they don't belive a young child can commit such an act (and they will post here) are wrong. I knew a family whose 13-year old son shot and killed his stepfather because the man would not buy him a motorcycle. So don't think that young children can't commit violent crimes. The son was tried and convicted because he admitted to the act and why, and he had no remorse.
There is something really scary about one so young who can think such a terrible act through and then act on it.
Posted by: Astonished | May 03, 2011 at 11:24 AM
A death of a father should be mourned by all know matter what his beliefs.
Freedom to believe is what a America is. Hateful talk makes one the biggot.
So for those posting hateful thoughts, America forgives you for your ignorance. Please learn, grow, and mature to become a respectful American and stop the internal hate of our country. Do it so your son does not one day shoot you!
Posted by: American | May 03, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Amazing that in this day and age this type of hatred still exist but why does this not surprise me. I am hoping this young man he gets the help he needs and they find out what led him to take his own father's life. I agree with John...time to evolve people. If we do not do something to keep this from happening or continue to happen (this type of thinking) we are bound to continue down this path of hatred.
Posted by: babyrn58 | May 03, 2011 at 11:37 AM
I wish the European Americans would just realize that this land belongs to the red man (first peoples, Indians, etc.) and that Mexicans have more claim to the southwest region than any white person. Actually we should all realize that there is enough space and resources for us all. White supremacy as a notion is meant to distract working class and poor whites from the fact that it is their own people, albeit rich white guys, that are keeping the masses oppressed. That is what the truth of the matter is. If only we had a cure for ignorance.
Posted by: Darkside | May 03, 2011 at 12:05 PM
To shoot your own father must be a very difficult decision on the kid's part. He must had a very good reason to protect the rest of his family. Has someone started a defense fund for him? I would like to contribute.
Posted by: Bill | May 03, 2011 at 12:08 PM
I believe young white males who hook up with these types of organization are ruining credibility and hurting white Christians people in general, in the legitimate cause of white Christians as a people to reclaim their political and economic arenas - stolen from them thru civil rights laws.
Those White Christians in America, who have had QUITE enough with forced multiculturalism and forced integration, should instead espouse the DMG Theorem as their cause celebrate'. It embodies historical significance.
Posted by: Twyler | May 03, 2011 at 12:32 PM
A 10-year-old boy shoots his white supremacist dad? Well, stranger things have happened. The question now is why did the boy do it -- if he did do it. :/
Posted by: Pat | May 03, 2011 at 12:51 PM
No Frank Bones, ... ILLEGAL Immigration causes plenty of real problems. No need to make any more up.
Posted by: Adrian | May 03, 2011 at 01:24 PM
What his son has to say would be fascinating. But as a minor we may not know for some years. Live by hatred, die by hatred I suppose.
Posted by: josh | May 03, 2011 at 01:41 PM
This white on white crime needs to stop!
Posted by: J Foxx | May 03, 2011 at 02:01 PM
karma....
Posted by: whittier | May 03, 2011 at 02:09 PM
American & Twyler...
Twyler...you speak only for white christians?...don't you learn tollerance and love for the fellow man as a christian?...
American...easily said....but you don't know what that father put his son and family through....I am in doubt he just up and shot his father...there are a lot of details to be uncovered...perhaps it was in fear for his life?..or his mothers/siblings?...who knows...maybe he was a druggie?...maybe he was in a gang...who knows...my point...don't be so quick to say that guy didn't have it coming.
Posted by: Bond | May 03, 2011 at 02:12 PM