Amish men face hate crime charges for beard cutting

SEVEN men from an Amish splinter group in Ohio were arrested on federal hate crime charges yesterday, accused of involvement in humiliating attacks on fellow Amish involving cutting off their beards and hair.

The men face charges linked to multiple religiously-motivated physical assaults, and the most serious charges could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

“The defendants forcibly restrained multiple Amish men and cut off their beards and head hair with scissors and battery-powered clippers, causing bodily injury to these men while also injuring others who attempted to stop the attacks,” the statement said.

The assaults were viewed as particularly egregious for the Amish because, once married, Amish men typically do not trim their beards and Amish women do not cut their hair for religious and cultural reasons.

The attacks took place throughout the fall in three counties south of Cleveland, one of the country’s largest concentrations of Amish.

Among the arrested was the breakaway sect’s leader, Bishop Samuel Mullet Sr of Bergholz, Ohio, who was accused of orchestrating the beard-cuttings as revenge for being shunned by the Amish community.

Of the other six men arrested, three are sons of Mullet. Five of the accused were arrested in Octoberon state charges of kidnapping and aggravated burglary after allegedly attacking a family of five.