blog archive

Friday 3 December 2010

Frosty the hateful snowman: Outrage over white separatist's noose-holding KKK sculpture

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:30 PM on 3rd December 2010


A white separatist has caused outrage by building a 10ft-tall Ku Klux Klan snowman in his Idaho yard.

The pointed-hood wearing, noose-holding, dark-eyed sculpture sat in front of Mark Eliseuson's Hayden home, just down the street from a local elementary school.

After complaints from neighbours and parents, law enforcement officers visited on Wednesday.

Mark Eliseuson's snowman depicted a white hooded figure holding a noose associated with the Ku Klux Klan

Mark Eliseuson's snowman depicted a white hooded figure holding a noose associated with the Ku Klux Klan

They told Eliseuson he could have been charged with creating a public nuisance and he removed the noose and took off the snowman's head.

Idaho law defines such a nuisance as anything 'offensive to the senses' or that interferes with the comfort of an entire neighbourhood. There is also a state statute against hanging nooses.

But Eliseuson told KXLY-TV of Spokane that he sees nothing wrong with the snowman the way it was.

In fact, he said that the snowman was initially smaller last week, but he rebuilt it taller when someone tried to knock it down.

White supremacist Eliseuson took off the hood and removed the noose after law-enforcement officers said he could be charged with a crime, but he still defended the snowman to a local TV station

White supremacist Eliseuson took off the hood and removed the noose after law-enforcement officers said he could be charged with a crime, but he still defended the snowman to a local TV station

'It's such a message of hate,' said Amber Caldwell, who saw the snowman while visiting her cousin in the neighbourhood.

'My kids asked me about it and I had to explain what that symbol means.'

Eliseuson has angered neighbours in the past by flying Aryan Nations flags and the flag of the Nazi SS at his home.

'I have every right to hang ‘em and fly ‘em,' Mark said of the flags in July to KXLY.

He said the flags were 'a little bit of white pride'.

At Halloween he passed out bullet casings after claiming he ran out of candy.

Eliseuson's modest home is 100 yards away from the Hayden Meadows Elementary School

Eliseuson's modest home is 100 yards away from the Hayden Meadows Elementary School

A closer view of flags hanging inside his garage. In the summer some flew outside his home

A closer view of flags hanging inside his garage. In the summer some flew outside his home



No comments:

Post a Comment