George Lincoln Rockwell, self-styled leader of the “American Nazi Party,” was in District of Columbia General Hospital today undergoing psychiatric observation on court order. He will stay in the hospital presumably till the latter part of August.
Municipal Judge George Neilson ordered Rockwell to the hospital last night. The judge accepted a claim of Assistant Corporation Counsel Clark King, at the close of a lengthy two-session hearing yesterday, that a prima facie showing had been made that Rockwell might be of insufficient soundness of mind to stand trial on two charges of disorderly conduct arising from clashes at “rallies” he has been staging in the nation’s capital.
The hearings on the disorderly conduct charges against Rockwell were continued by Judge Neilson until August 26. The hearings against several of Rockwell’s “troopers” on the same charges were continued until August 31. Rockwell’s defense attorney, James K. Hughes, announced at the close of the hearing yesterday that he would seek a writ of habeas corpus for his client. He had not done so today.
Rockwell, who was his own last defense witness yesterday, asserted he was not advocating the extermination of Jews “as a race” but “as traitors.” He added he would “save some good Jews,” and asserted he had some Jewish members among his followers.
Evidence studied in the hearing included drawings and writings dating back to Rockwell’s college student days. The samples give evidence of intense preoccupation with cruelty in all its manifestations, including cannibalism, dismemberment, bombing, be heading and flagellation.
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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.
