Brawl erupts in courtroom

A brief brawl erupted in a federal courtroom Tuesday, shortly after a judge imposed severe restrictions on 12 alleged white supremacists following a reported threat to federal prosecutors.

The scuffle began at the end of a hearing and involved 10 of the defendants and approximately 15 deputy U.S. marshals. It started when one defendant spit at a marshal carrying out U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba's order to get the particularly vocal man into his seat.

Almost instantly, violence broke out in the jury box, where the defendants and their attorneys were seated. As the other defendants jumped to their feet, the marshals quickly wrestled them to the ground, and the tussle lasted about two minutes until the federal agents got the men under control.

By the end, one defendant was in a choke-hold, another was pressed against the wall and the defendant who incited the brawl had a mask over his face and marshals were preparing to use a stun gun on him.

No one involved suffered any serious injuries, although one female defense attorney, who became caught in the middle of the struggle, was pulled over the jury box rail to safety by a security official. She later recovered her shoe, which was lost in the melee.

The defendants, all purported members of the Soldiers of the Aryan Culture, were indicted in December 2003 on federal racketeering charges and are accused of carrying out various violent crimes to further the power of the organization. They are scheduled to stand trial on the charges in April, and are being held in various jails and the Utah State Prison until then.

Alba called the men and their attorneys to court Tuesday to inform them of the restrictions he intended to place on the defendants in response to an alleged threat by at least one of the defendants to attorneys in the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah. Alba cut off all in-person and telephone communication with the men's families, as well as any contact with their fellow defendants. He also reminded the men that their incoming and outgoing mail was being monitored "for potential threats and for any other illegal purposes."

The men strongly objected to the constraints, proclaiming their innocence in profanity-laced protestations and accusing the government of using the limitations to alienate them from their loved ones.

"We have nothing to gain by threatening the prosecutors or threatening the federal marshals," one defendant said.

Another noted that he is already allowed only one 30-minute visit weekly with his family, and "you're going to take that from me."

Outside the courtroom, the sister of one defendant, who declined to give her name, said it was not fair to impose the restrictions on all the men.