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| Supremacist allegedly stabs Hispanic inmate in federal court |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/13/2005 |
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A white supremacist allegedly smuggled a homemade shank into the Salt Lake City, Utah, federal courthouse Tuesday, using the 3-inch sharpened metal object to stab another inmate in a holding cell. The victim, a Hispanic male, suffered three puncture wounds and several cuts, but was not seriously injured, said Jim Thompson, chief deputy for the U.S. Marshal's Service, which provides security at the building. The victim, whose name was not released, was transported to a local hospital. The alleged assailant, Lance Vanderstappen, 25, is a well-known white supremacist whose membership in the Soldiers of Aryan Culture had landed him prison, officials said. Tuesday's attacked happened shortly after Vanderstappen was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for the 2001 stabbing -- also with a crudely hewn shank -- of another man inside the Utah State Prison. In pleading guilty to that offense, Vanderstappen said he had attacked the man to advance his position within the Soldiers, said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney in Utah. After his sentencing, Vanderstappen and the alleged victim were in the holding cell with other prisoners either awaiting court appearances or transfers to prison when the alleged attack happened. Thompson said Vanderstappen smuggled the shank out of the state prison in Draper and into the federal courthouse inside a body cavity. Prisoners, and Vanderstappen in particular, are monitored carefully by video cameras and marshals, but the shank would only have been found had Vanderstappen passed through an X-ray machine or through a body cavity search, but neither step was taken. "We know he has violent potential, so we take the necessary precaution, but this weapon was so well concealed that it was not found," Thompson said. It remained unclear Tuesday what precipitated the altercation between the two men, although the victim's race alone could have been a motivating factor, Thompson said. Investigators were reviewing videotapes and talking with other prisoners held in the same cell to try to determine what happened, he said. |
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