New Developments in Amish Beard and Hair Cutting Attacks - WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling Steubenville

WTRF.com UPDATE

WTRF.com has been following the latest developments in the Amish beard and hair cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio.

 Seven of the 16 people charged want any references to a cult or renegade group banned from their upcoming trial.
    
The  defendants asked federal Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Cleveland on Monday to prohibit such references as prejudicial.

The prosecution will get a chance to respond before the judge rules.
       
The defendants are charged with forcibly cutting the beards and hair of men and the hair of women, acts considered deeply offensive in Amish culture.
    

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ORIGINAL STORY

No doubt bizarre, what could be described as a gang of Amish members from the Bergholz area are allegedly breaking into other Amish homes and once inside, they're holding down Amish men and women and cutting their hair off.

Fear is spreading through the Amish community. Twelve Amish people left Jefferson County and headed to Trumball County and forced their way into a home, six men and six women," said Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla. "The men knocked the man to the ground and cut his hair and beard and the women knocked the woman the ground and cut her hair off."

Sheriff Abdalla said Amish families in three other counties claim the Bergholz clan burst into their home cutting the beards and hair from women, men and even their children.

A motive for the crime is still unclear. Under Amish tradition, men no longer cut their beard after they're married. The Sheriff calls these alleged crimes degrading.

"As one Amishman told me, he would rather be dead than have his beard cut off," he said.

Abdalla says yet another incident involved the clan arriving in horse trailers at Amish homes in Carroll and Holmes County. "There were five victims, men, women, a 13-yea-old girl thrown to the ground and had her hair cut and elderly 75-year-old woman thrown against the wall," said Abdalla.

The Sheriff says fear is spreading across the Amish community. "They were making threats on who the next targets are going to be," said Abdalla, "so when does it end."

The problem is the Amish don't believe in pursuing charges and don't want the law involved. Abdalla had a simple answer for them, "Let us throw them in jail and then pray for them."

Sheriff Abdalla also tells WTRF.com in these incidents, the group actually brought back the hair from the victims to prove the order was carried out.

You might recall the Sheriff has had trouble with the Amish group in the past.

They sued him for $35 million over a raid and child custody case.

So far no arrests have been made in these invasions.