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Tuesday, April 29, 1997

Suspect reportedly had racist, anti-Semitic ties

DALLAS (AP) - A McKinney man accused of opening fire on a messianic Jewish temple has a history of white supremacist and anti-Semitic activities, the Anti-Defamation League has said.

However, the shooting at the Baruch Ha Shem Messianic Congregation was believed to be the action of one man, not a group, said Mark Briskman, the league's regional director.

Donald Ray Anderson, 48, remained confined to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on Monday in lieu of $400,000 bond, charged with three counts of aggravated assault and a single count of deadly conduct. The FBI said it has opened a civil rights investigation.

Briskman said the group had monitored Anderson's activities since 1982.

"It's our sense that this was one individual, acting alone. We're pretty confident of that," he said.

Anderson's 19-year-old nephew, J.R. Knight, who lives with Anderson, told The Dallas Morning News that his uncle has been a longtime Ku Klux Klan member who hated Jews and blacks.

"He was always talking about Jews and blacks," Knight said. "He said they should all die. I never suspected he'd do anything like this."

Witnesses told police that Anderson walked into a courtyard at the temple Saturday morning, raised a rifle into the air and fired five times, shouting repeatedly "Die, Jews, die."

About 250 adults and children were in the temple at the time of the attack, but no one was injured. Children would ordinarily have been playing outside, but were inside the building at the time because of rain, members said.

Bullets shattered glass, and holes could clearly be seen near a Star of David on the building. Authorities estimated damage to the building and the synagogue's sign totaled about $300.

Although members of the Far North Dallas congregation observe many Jewish traditions and customs, they worship Jesus as the messiah.

Briskman said the 10:30 a.m. attack appeared to be the act of "a distraught individual acting on his own."

However, he said the incident "really speaks to what remains the critical issue with these groups today, and that remains the potential for violence."

The first mention of Anderson in ADL files came in March 1982, when he dressed in KKK robes and carried "Dump Israel" placards during a one-man picket outside the old Collin County Courthouse, Briskman said.

In October 1988, Anderson attended at a rally sponsored by the Klan and the white-supremacist Confederate Hammerskins, he said. Anderson did not participate in the rally, but talked to participants for several hours.

Anderson told detectives that he did not want to hurt anybody in the attack, that he was trying to "expose Jews," said Dallas police spokesman Ed Spencer.

The suspect told police that he was a Klan member who hadn't been active in several years, Spencer said.

Police are investigating whether Anderson might have confused the messianic congregation with a traditional synagogue because of the Star of David displayed on its exterior, Spencer said.

Anderson, if convicted of all counts, could be sentenced to up to 70 years in prison and fined up to $40,000.Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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