Thomas Macintosh, 36, of Woodbury. N.J., one of four Jewish Defense League members arrested on an 11-count federal indictment stemming from alleged harassment of foreign officials, has decided to turn state’s evidence and will be a witness for the prosecution, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today from reliable sources.
MacIntosh, described by the JDL as a convert was arrested by the FBI June 8, with Steven Ehrlich, 21, of San Francisco, on Staten Island. Both were en route from New Jersey. The FBI said the car in which MacIntosh and Ehrlich were riding contained explosive materials. The JTA also was informed that MacIntosh has been held in protective custody since his arrest. JDL officials declined to comment on the report about him.
Ehrlich came here from San Francisco and was arraigned last week. He was freed Tuesday on $25,000 cash bond, the same arrangement on which Russel Kelner, 35, of Brooklyn, former operations officer of the JDL, and Jeffrey Weingarten. 21, of Brooklyn, were released after a hearing on Aug. 19, the day the federal indictment was handed up.
The indictment charged the JDL members with participating in a conspiracy which allegedly included shooting into the Soviet Mission to the United Nations and into the Soviet residential complex in Riverdale, N.Y. and with an alleged pipe-bombing attempt at the Iraqi Mission to the UN and an alleged pipe-bombing of a Gulf Oil service station.
The arraignment hearings were held before Judge Henry Werker, of the Southern District federal court in Manhattan, who came under criticism by both the JDL and the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA) for ordering a JDL spectator, Sheldon Fine, at the hearing to remove his yarmulke or leave the courtroom. Fine left.
Judge Werker, in issuing his order to Fine declared that his court was not a temple. When Ralph Naden, Kelner’s attorney, objected, declaring that Fine’s “hat” was a religious article worn by observant Jews, Judge Werker replied he did not care what the head covering was and that “no one wears a hat in my courtroom.”
JUDGE EXPLAINS HIS ORDER
COLPA sent a letter on Aug. 25 to Judge Werker, asking for “clarification” of his order to Fine. COLPA yesterday released a reply from the judge in which the jurist declared that when he issued his order to Fine “I was unaware of the nature or significance of the constant wearing of the yarmulke by certain observant Jews.” He added that “I have since been advised with regard to this and will bear this in mind in future proceedings.”
Sidney Kwestel, COLPA president, indicated that on the basis of Judge Werker’s response, COLPA considered the matter closed and planned no further action. But Bonnie Pechter, JDL national coordinator, recalled that the JDL had publicly demanded that Judge Werker be removed into that until he was removed, he should be barred from sitting on any cases involving Jews.
Informed of Judge Werker’s letter, Ms. Pechter said yesterday the JDL was not satisfied and did not consider the matter closed. She said the JDL would, “at an appropriate time,” take legal action against Judge Werker.
Kelner received a one-year suspended sentence last year for making a televised threat to assassinate Yasir Arafat when the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization visited New York in 1974 for an unprecedented address to the UN General Assembly.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
