Ill. man charged in bombing may be released
PHOENIX -- A federal judge said he'll decide by the end of the day on Tuesday whether to release one of two alleged white supremacists charged in a 2004 bombing that injured a black city official in Scottsdale.
The city official, Don Logan, spoke against releasing Daniel Mahon, 58, from custody at a hearing in Phoenix, saying that he and the community at large would have to look over their shoulders in fear if Mahon was released.
"This individual represents hate, and that hate is a danger to the community," Logan said as he repeatedly turned to look Mahon in the eye. "That someone would come to Arizona and launch an attack simply because my skin color is different from theirs, simply because of hate ... is unconscionable."
Logan, who was Scottsdale's diversity director at the time, opened a mail bomb addressed to him on Feb. 26, 2004 in the city's Human Resources Complex. The explosion injured his hand and arm and hurt a secretary.
Daniel Mahon and his twin brother Dennis Mahon were arrested in the bombing June 25 at their home in Davis Junction, Ill., where authorities say they found assault weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and white supremacist material. They are charged with conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive.
A federal magistrate in Illinois ordered Daniel Mahon's release on a $50,000 cash bond in July, but federal prosecutors appealed the decision. Campbell can either uphold that order or overturn it Tuesday.
Prosecutor John Boyle argued that Mahon is a flight risk and a danger to the community, saying that he has demonstrated a pattern of white supremacist behavior and violence, and would rather "go down in a blaze of glory" than spend the rest of his life in prison.
Defense attorney Barbara Hull argued that the evidence against her client is minuscule compared to his brother and that he was charged with just one count, compared to the three charges against Dennis Mahon.
She said her client is not a danger or a flight risk and should be released because his elderly father in Illinois needs help taking care of his wife, who has advanced cancer and Alzheimer's disease. The court can impose restrictions on Mahon to ensure he shows up for court dates, she added.
Mahon's son, Will Mahon of Chandler, Ariz., was in court Tuesday and told The Associated Press that his father didn't commit a crime and that his biggest mistake was not getting away from his brother.
"He's not a violent man," he said. "The only thing my father is guilty of is not washing his hands of his brother. My dad followed on his coattails."
He said his father tried to get out from under his brother's influence by moving to Arizona in 2002 but that he moved back to Illinois, where his brother was living, after three years to help care for his mother.
Dennis Mahon created the Missouri White Knights in Kansas City in 1988, after he and his brother joined David Duke's Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s, according to Leonard Zeskind, a Kansas City expert on hate groups.
Dennis Mahon also is charged with malicious damage of a building by means of explosive and distribution of information related to explosives.
The same magistrate who ordered Daniel Mahon to be released found that Dennis Mahon is a danger to the community and poses a flight risk. He remains in custody.