Detroit Jewish leader found on convicted killer’s hit list
The leader of a Detroit Jewish group said a Toledo man
who was arrested on charges of possessing counterfeit goods and weapons kept a
notebook that listed both the Jewish organization and the NAACP’s Detroit
branch, drawing alarm from Detroit community leaders over the suspected
neo-Nazi sympathizer’s intent.
In the weeks after the arrest of Richard Schmidt, FBI
agents shared with Scott Kaufman some of the pages in a personal notebook found
Dec. 21 during a search of Schmidt’s West Toledo home that made reference to
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and listed its leaders.
Among the handwritten pages were notes that Schmidt
allegedly made about the NAACP, including directions that would get him from
Toledo to its Detroit headquarters, Mr. Kaufman said Friday.
Federal agents took a videotape of a 2005 national
meeting of the National Socialist Movement, a white supremist group, and a
national list of Jewish-owned businesses during the raid of Schmidt’s home.
Authorities also raided Spindletop Sports Zone, a sports and memorabilia store
at the Woodland Mall in Bowling Green owned by Schmidt, four cargo trailers
that he kept in the mall parking lot, and three vehicles.
The notebook with information about the Jewish Federation
and NAACP coupled with items that show Schmidt may be sympathetic to the causes
of neo-Nazis, as well as the arsenal of guns and ammunition he kept have raised
fears among community leaders in Detroit. Mr. Kaufman, chief executive officer
of the Jewish Federation, stopped short of using “target list” for the pages in
the notebook that FBI agents shared with him, but he said it is a logical
conclusion that one could draw.
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