He had pleaded to attacking a Burlco couple in their home.
By Thom Guarnieri
Inquirer Staff Writer
MOUNT HOLLY - Daisy Todd, whose son was beaten in a racially
motivated attack last year, looked across a Burlington County
courtroom yesterday morning and had words for the man who had
admitted doing it.
"Young man, I don't understand hatred so deep because of the color of
a person's skin. That will be a stain on your soul, if you've got
one," she said.
Henry L. Baird, 34, a reputed white supremacist skinhead from Sidney,
N.Y., looked down and showed no emotion as she spoke.
Baird was sentenced to 22 years in prison for two counts of
aggravated assault in the July 31 attack, including an extra five
years in jail because the attack was a hate crime. He won't be
eligible for parole for more than 14 years.
Baird pleaded guilty May 20, admitting that he beat Donald Butler,
20, who is African American, in an attempt to intimidate him because
of his race.
Baird and another man burst into the Browns Mills home of Donald and
Kara Butler at about 1 a.m. while they slept and, screaming racial
slurs, attacked the couple with baseball bats. The Butlers' 18-month-
old daughter, Trinity, was asleep in her crib in the next room and
was not hurt.
Baird and Brian Nielsen, 23, were arrested about an hour later at
Nielsen's Browns Mills home. Both were charged with two counts of
aggravated assault. Nielsen is in custody in the Burlington County
Correctional Facility in Mount Holly, awaiting a court appearance on
July 22.
"I don't know if you really understand what you've done to me," Kara
Butler told Baird in court, fighting back tears. "I have nightmares
and relive that night."
But, she added, "I will not let you get the upper hand in this."
The Butlers have separated since the attack, said Assistant
Prosecutor John Brennan, and Donald Butler was not in court
yesterday. His aunt, Diane Williams, also spoke.
She said she didn't distinguish between the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks and this attack.
"I fear them more than bin Laden and other terrorists," she told the
court. "These cowardly acts of violence are not foreign to African
Americans."
Kirk Reid, Baird's lawyer, placed some of the blame for the attack on
Baird's long history of drug abuse.
Reid told the court that, since age 12, Baird "has abused and tried
just about every possible chemical and drug that is out there."
"I know it doesn't excuse it, but it gives the court an understanding
of what happened," he said.
Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Smith Jr. wasn't buying it.
He said he would not accept Baird's drug use as a mitigating factor.
"The underlying basis for this offense," he said, "is his
undiminished hatred of others who don't look like him."
Smith said he remembered when incidents like the attack on the
Butlers would take place, but those responsible would not be held
accountable.
"This country has evolved for the most part for the better, and now
those who commit hate crimes are brought to justice," he said.
"There is no way we can change what's in people's hearts, but we can
aggressively prosecute and punish people when bias is a motivator in
the offense," Smith said.