The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department in Ohio has released the mugshots for three of the five Amish men arrested for allegedly breaking into the homes of other Amish men and cutting off their hair and beards.
From the left, Levi Miller, Johnny Mullet and Lester Mullet. (Picture below)
The men are part of the Bergholz clan, a breakaway clan headed by bishop Sam Mullet, who is also the father of three of the five men. The attacks were allegedly a way of getting revenge for the bitter excommunication.
From the New York Times, in one incident:
[Myron] Miller, 45, a stocky construction worker and an Amish bishop in the peaceful farmlands of eastern Ohio, found five or six men waiting. Some grabbed him and wrestled him outside as others hacked at his long black beard with scissors, clipping off six inches. As Mr. Miller kept struggling, his wife screamed at the children to call 911, and the attackers fled.
In another incident, according to authorities, 74-year-old Raymond Hershberger and his son were held down and their beards cut with a battery-powered hair clipper.
Read more here.
The Times reports that federal prosecutors are considering whether to pursue federal hate-crime charges.
