Bearded Amish men under attack

MECHANICSTOWN, OHIO - Myron and Arlene Miller were lying in bed about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday when their 15-year-old daughter woke them to say a pickup truck and trailer had just pulled into their driveway.

Four to six men got out of the truck and knocked on the door, asking for her father, the bishop for the Mechanicstown Amish church.

When Myron Miller walked to the door, a man grabbed him by his long, traditional beard - the sign that an Amish man is married, according to scripture - and forced him out the front door.

Miller was surrounded by the other men, who used scissors to cut out a chunk of his beard. They were unable to get more, the 45-year-old Miller said, because he struggled so hard. In mid-tussle, the leader of the group ordered everyone to flee.

The Millers said they were the fifth Amish family in the last several weeks to be terrorized by what the Millers believe is a group that once was Amish but is now believed to have formed a cult in nearby Bergholz, Jefferson County.

The attacks occurred in Carroll, Holmes, Jefferson and Trumbull counties, which form the heart of Ohio's Amish population, one of the nation's largest. No serious injuries have been reported.

Officials in Jefferson County were interviewing four suspects late Friday night. The Millers and another man who was assaulted the same night in nearby Holmes County have decided to go forward with criminal charges, an unusual step by the Amish.

"In pressing charges, this isn't revenge," Arlene Miller said. "This is to help those people. There are a lot of children in that community."

Added her husband: "They're like hate crimes. They're terrorizing people and communities."

The Bergholz group, which lives in a valley near the Ohio River, has formed its own compound, neighbors say. Consisting of about 16 families, the group has its own schoolhouse, and the property includes a number of houses, barns and outbuildings. Several young men in Amish dress were working on the property Friday.

The leader of the group, who could not be reached for comment and whose identity is being withheld because he has not been charged with a crime, is believed to be about 70 and works in construction. Arlene Miller described him as a smooth talker who convinces his followers that he is a good man. She said she has been told that he uses sleep-deprivation and brainwashing methods to keep his followers. There are also stories of violence and torture, Arlene Miller said.

The cult was formed five to seven years ago by an Amish man, who until that point had been a regular member of the community, Arlene Miller said.

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla has been trying to pursue the cult leader, whom he called "a lone wolf." But without victims willing to press charges, he has been left "sitting here with my hands tied. I can't do a thing."

A conciliation attempt by Amish leaders several years ago failed, Abdalla said.

"They say this is to uncover sins, and it's to straighten us out," Arlene Miller said. "They've been making threats they're going to do worse things."

One Amish man from Mechanicstown, who was working in Bergholz on Friday, said that about a year ago the members of the group shaved their own beards and hair.

"They were under the impression that would cleanse them before God," said the man, who asked that his name not be used.

Arlene Miller believes her husband was targeted because he helped the son of the alleged cult leader leave the group several years ago. She said the Holmes County attack on Wednesday was for the same reason.

In that case, the victim, who is 74, was in bed with his wife, when six men broke into their home and held him in a chair. They then used scissors and clippers to remove the man's beard.

An older man and woman in Mesopotamia, Trumbull County, were attacked three weeks ago because they had fled the Berghholz cult, Arlene Miller said. Their children are still involved in the group and are the ones who attacked them, she said.

Since the beard cuttings have occurred, the Holmes County bishop told one member of the Bergholz group, "'This isn't a Christian way to act,'" Arlene Miller recounted, adding that the man replied, "'Well, we're not Christian.'"

Arlene Miller agrees religion has nothing to do with the attacks.

"This is a man that's sick. He's power hungry," she said. "We believe we're in danger."