White supremacist leader denies threatening juror

A white supremacist leader pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he threatened one of the jurors who convicted another racial activist of soliciting the murder of a federal judge.

William White, 31, of Roanoke, Va., appeared briefly before U.S. District Judge William J. Hibbler, who set a Dec. 5 hearing on his request for bond. White whispered to his attorneys but said nothing aloud, and was escorted away afterward by a phalanx of federal marshals.

White is charged with threatening the foreman of the jury that in April 2004 convicted white supremacist Matthew Hale of East Peoria of soliciting an undercover FBI informant to murder U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow.

Hale is serving a 40-year federal prison sentence.

White is commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party. Attorneys said he has made his living by purchasing houses, rehabbing and reselling them.

Defense attorney Nishay K. Sanan told reporters after the hearing that his case would focus on White's right to express himself under the law.

"This case is going to be the U.S. versus the First Amendment," Sanan said.