Los Angeles, Monday, November 4,
2002
Irv
Rubin in Suicide Attempt
[Rubin] LOS
ANGELES (AP) — Jewish
Defense League leader Irv Rubin, jailed for allegedly plotting to bomb a mosque and an Arab-American congressman’s office, was hospitalized Monday after trying to kill himself, a U.S. Marshal’s
Service spokesman said.
Rubin used a razor blade in the 6 a.m. suicide attempt and was undergoing surgery at a hospital five hours later, spokesman
Bill Woolsey said.
Rubin was scheduled to appear in court
Monday for a hearing in his case.
There were conflicting reports about
Rubin’s condition. His wife,
Shelley, and son, Ari, told
The Associated Press they were told by
Rubin’s lawyers that Rubin had died in surgery after slashing his neck with a razor and jumping over a railing as he was called out of his cell at the federal
Metropolitan Detention Center. They said he fell up to 18 feet.
Bryan Altman, one of the attorneys, refused to confirm that account but said he would issue a statement later.
Laura
Bosley, FBI spokeswoman, said
agents were investigating it as a
“crime in a government property” and
hadn’t confirmed whether it was a
suicide attempt.
“He sustained serious injuries,” she said but wouldn’t provide details.
Rubin and associate Earl Krugel
were arrested Dec. 11 on charges of plotting to bomb the King Fahd mosque in suburban Culver City and an office of Rep.
Darrell E. Issa, R-Calif.
Rubin and Krugel were arrested after an
FBI informant delivered an explosive powder that authorities believed was the last component in making pipe bombs. The charges carry up to 40 years in prison upon conviction.
Rubin, who by his own account has been arrested more than 40 times, joined the
JDL early in the 1970s and quickly moved up, becoming chairman in 1985.
In 1989, the leader of the rival Jewish
Defense Organization was charged with firing shots at Rubin and wounding three others in New York. Mordechai Levy
was convicted of assault.
According to his biography, Rubin learned to fight anti-Semitism while growing up in Montreal, “where some hotel owners and other business people hung signs reading ‘No Dogs or Jews Allowed’ on their doors and where French Canadian schoolchildren taunted him because he was
Jewish.”
His family emigrated in 1961 and he became a U.S. citizen and joined the Air
Force in 1966, serving four years.
In 1973 he served in Israel’s civil defense corps during the Middle East war.
The JDL, whose symbol is a raised fist inside a Star of David, has the motto
“Never Again,” referring to the World War
II killing of 6 million Jews. It was founded in 1968 by Rabbi Meir
Kahane to mount armed response to anti-Semitic acts in New York City.
The group was suspected in a 1985
bombing in Santa Ana that killed Southern
California Arab anti-discrimination leader
Alex Odeh, but no arrests were ever made.
on this website:
David
Irving: A Radical’s Diary
JDL
leader’s attorneys want separate trials
for defendants
Defense
attorney wants racist remarks thrown
out
Trying
to Blow up a Mosque?
Meet the JDL href=”http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/jdl/usrubin121201cmp1.pdf” target=”_blank”>Full | “From
fanatics | Los
Angeles Times softens the profile of
JDL terrorist Irv Rubin | LA
grand jury indicts JDL members Rubin,
Krugel in bomb plan | The
Irv Rubin story: Never say never
again | FBI
spells Finis to Thug’s Career: Militant
JDL Chief Irv Rubin Arrested after
Gunpowder Plot | Australia
reports |
text of charges | IHR
recalls JDL’s record | David
Irving, Radical’s Diary on Rubin:
“He
seems to have enjoyed a life inspired
by hatred of others whom he regards as
inferior — the very archetype of a
nazi.
the Irv Rubin bust to the Stern Gang:
The Rich History of Jewish
Terrorism”