Indictment: Portland man mailed noose to Ohio NAACP leader

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Portland white supremacist has been indicted on accusations he mailed a hangman's noose to an Ohio civil rights leader, the Justice Department said Thursday.

An indictment alleges that Daniel Lee Jones used the U.S. Postal Service to send a package that included the noose to home of Jason Upthegrove, president of the Lima, Ohio, chapter of the NAACP.

Upthegrove received the package on Feb. 14, 2008.

The indictment says that before mailing the noose, Jones sent hate literature to Lima regarding the shooting of a black woman by a police officer. According to news reports at the time, Upthegrove urged calm after the shooting of Tarika Wilson ignited protests in the northwest Ohio city.

Jones, regional director of the American National Socialist Workers Party, was arrested Wednesday by U.S. marshals after a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging him with mailing a threatening communication and interfering with federally protected activities.

"A noose is an unmistakable symbol of hatred and violence in our nation, conjuring up images of a despicable period in our history," said Thomas Perez, who leads the Justice Department's civil rights division. "Mailing a noose to an individual who advocates for racial equality sends a clear threat of violence."

Jones, 32, was scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis J. Hubel of Portland.

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