APPEALS COURT AFFIRMS THIRTEEN-YEAR SENTENCE
FOR KLAN LEADER IN LOUISIANA CROSS-BURNING

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Department of Justice today announced a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirming a thirteen-year sentence for the leader of a cross burning in Longville, Louisiana.

The decision in United States v. Fuselier upheld the lower court’s finding that David Anthony Fuselier, then a Great Titan in America’s Invisible Empire, acted as a leader in a September 2002 cross burning outside a home rented by three African American men.

“By leading a group of people in the hateful ritual of cross burning, the defendant orchestrated an ugly and vicious act meant to terrorize innocent people,” said Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta. “As today’s decision reflects, the substantial sentence in this case matches the severity of the crime and the defendant’s leadership role in it.”

America’s Invisible Empire is a faction of the Ku Klux Klan and uses the Klan’s rules, titles, insignias, and symbols. As a Great Titan, Fuselier’s responsibilities included recruiting new members for the Klaverns, or chapters, in his district, and for training Klavern leaders, known as Exalted Cyclops.

Fuselier and five other members of Klavern 1500 participated in the cross burning with the intent of forcing three black men, who were renting a home in Longville, out of town. Fuselier, the highest ranking Klan official present, directed the others as they constructed a five-foot cross, drove it across town, planted it in the yard of the rented home and set it ablaze. All of the defendants pleaded guilty.

The Department of Justice continues to vigorously prosecute bias-motivated crimes, including cross burnings. Since 2001, the Department has prosecuted 29 cross burnings, filing criminal civil rights charges against 46 defendants.

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