Alleged White Supremacists Charged

The Associated Press/November 18, 2002
By Chelsea J. Carter

Santa Ana, Calif. -- Authorities on Monday charged two alleged leaders of white supremacist organizations and a third man with a range of crimes as part of what they called an effort to head off hate-related violence.

Two of the three were accused of possessing bomb-making materials two years ago, but Orange County authorities conceded they knew of no specific plot. Two of those charged were arrested early Monday. The third person was already in prison.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said the action was part of a law enforcement effort to target such groups.

Jack Frederick Steele II, 29, was charged with three felony counts of falsifying documents, one felony count of perjury and one count of possessing a firearm with a prior conviction. Steele was described as the leader of California's chapter of the Aryan Nations.

During a search of Steele's house, Thompson said, authorities found a letter addressed to a white supremacist group advocating that the Aryan Nations align itself with Islamic extremists to target Jews and the U.S. government.

Christine Greenwood, 28, of Anaheim, and her boyfriend, John Patrick McCabe, 23, were each charged with two counts of possessing bomb-making material and an enhancement allegation of promoting gang membership in white supremacist groups.

McCabe was already in prison. Greenwood and Steele, who were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail each, were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. They were being processed by jail authorities late Monday and had not yet retained attorneys, said district attorney's spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder.

Greenwood was identified as the co-founder of Women for Aryan Unity and an organizer of the Aryan Baby Drive, which collects clothing and other items for poor white families. She and McCabe were also identified as members of the militant group Blood and Honor.