Judge: Geneva man's anonymous racist, homophobic letters were 'vulgar' but not criminal
Citing freedom of speech, a Kane County judge on Monday found a Geneva man who sent anonymous, racist, homophobic and harassing letters to people in a "What's Happening" Facebook group not guilty of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
The people who received the letters said they were disappointed, but the community now knows the views of Anton L. Purkart, 61, of the 0-99 block of South Andover Lane.
"We knew going in that First Amendment cases were hard to win," Geneva resident Brenda Gonzalez said after the verdict from Judge Salvator LoPiccolo. "The upside is the community knows his racist, xenophobic and homophobic beliefs. In my opinion, he is a disgusting, vile human, but I respect the judge's decision."
Gonzalez was one of three people who testified in a bench trial before LoPiccolo in late June about receiving anonymous letters in May 2018 from Purkart.
In addition to racial and homophobic slurs, the letters did not have a return address and contained a printed out screenshot of the recipient's comment or reaction to a Facebook thread.
LoPiccolo took the matter under advisement and in Monday's verdict, he said he does not condone what Purkart did but believes he was "truly sorry." LoPiccolo called the content of the letters "vulgar and offensive" but said the letters did not contain threats or fighting words and therefore did not break the law.
"This was a difficult decision for me to make," the judge said.
Prosecutors had argued the letters contained personal information and made the recipients feel threatened and unsafe in their own homes. Defense attorney Matthew Haiduk argued his client's views, though unpopular, were protected under the First Amendment and didn't contain any specific threats.
If convicted of the Class C misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, the least severe of any criminal charge, Purkart faced up to 30 days in jail and a maximum fine of $2,500.
After the verdict, Purkart had no comment; Haiduk said his client was "looking forward to personally apologizing" to people he wrote letters to.
Joe Erbentrout, a Batavia man who testified in the trial, said he was disappointed in the verdict and wouldn't accept any apology from Purkart.
"This is something he clearly thought he was going to get away with. With respect to today's verdict, he has. But the letters, their language, it's all out there," Erbentrout said. "I'm not interested in any future contact or otherwise with someone who feels that way."
Gonzalez said she doesn't know if she would accept an apology from Purkart. "In this case, action needs to speak louder than words, and I don't see him doing anything better for our community. I hope he proves me wrong," she said.