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For Matt Hale, A Wedding Worthy of Death

World Church of the Creator leader Matt Hale denounces an interracial union as a wedding worthy of death.

Approaching their one-year anniversary, Shannon and Edgar Sandoval found that someone had noted — in a very public way — their special day.

On flyers distributed around their Illinois town in late July, the Sandovals' wedding announcement had been reproduced and their union described as a "wedding of the blond White woman with the mongrel 'Filipino' animal savage!"

Then, down the page, a chilling proposal: "The World Church of the Creator and Reverend Matt Hale say today that such actions must be punished by DEATH!"

Members of Hale's neo-Nazi group inserted the flyer into copies of The Thrifty Nickel, a free local publication available at supermarkets and gas stations, and distributed the combined publications overnight to hundreds of homes in Pekin, where the Sandovals live.

The Sandovals themselves didn't receive a copy of The Thrifty Nickel, but Ms. Sandoval's father did. Dave Tebben, who is the mayor of Pekin, was himself attacked for "giving his daughter to an animal."

Shannon Sandoval told the Intelligence Report that she was stricken with fear when she saw the broadside attacking her. "I was checking my rearview mirror all the time. I just kept thinking, 'He [Hale] did this for attention. What else would he do for attention? It could be something more physical.'"

For Hale, cries of "Bestiality!" and "Death to Race Defilers!" — emblazoned in bold on his propaganda piece — are nothing out of the ordinary. Although Hale likes to present himself as a well-mannered and thoughtful white supremacist, his calm exterior is betrayed by, among other things, his references to the "n-----ization" and "jewification" of America.

Denied his law license in Illinois, meanwhile, Hale recently asked followers to send character references to the Montana Bar Association. He is considering a move to the state where his hate group has long had a presence.