Hate Victims Tough It Out

Bonnie Jouhari was forced out of town and had to leave her job as a housing advocate in Pennsylvania in November of 1998, after a hate group posted death threats against her on its Web site. She and her teenage daughter, Danielle, have been on the run ever since.

They have moved three times in two years - even though Danielle is in her senior year of high school - because Jouhari says their harassers continued to find them.

Perhaps their troubles may end soon, now that Andrew Cuomo, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has taken up their cause.

Cuomo, Jouhari and her daughter explained the situation to CBS News Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson.

HUD is filing charges against Ryan Wilson of Pennsylvania for threatening Jouhari and Danielle. Wilson runs a hate group, "Alpha Q."

His Internet threat read: "Traitors like this should beware, for in our day, they will be hung from the neck from the nearest tree or lamp post."

When Wilson was interviewed on TV and asked if he would ever hang Jouhari from a tree, he replied "yes."

HUD says Wilson is in violation of the "fair housing act." If convicted, he could be ordered to pay the Jouharis compensation of $22,000.

Jouhari was a fair housing advocate in Redding, Pennsylvania, working on behalf of residents who were having discrimination issues, when she received the death threats. She also chaired the Hate Crimes Task Force for Berks County, Pennsylvania.

She currently earns her living working as a temp.

"Professionally this has been devastating," Jouhari says. "I feel like I have gotten nowhere. I have no medical insurance."

Jouhari tried to get help from local police and the federal government but no one seemed able to help.

She filed an official complaint with HUD back in March of 1998. But the Justice Department wanted to treat this hate crime as a criminal case and refused to let HUD move forward with it. Yet, 15 months later, the Justice Department still hadn't acted on it.

"I'm disappointed in the Justice Department," says Jouhari. "I think they should have moved much more quickly."

The case was finally turned over to HUD in the summer of '99.

"When I heard from the Secretary yesterday I had a big sense of satisfaction that at least it had not been forgotten. Someone cared enough to make it right," said Jouhari.

"This is a real step toward justice," Cuomo said.

Danielle, on the other hand, has been very angry about the fear and the upheavals in their lives.

"I feel sorry for these people," Danielle said, speaking about Wilson and his group. "People with that kind of mentality are truly sick."

Jouhari hopes that as a result of their struggle, "in the long run these hate groups will think twice...If this helps others, it's worth it."

She said Cuomo made her daughter feel that their efforts are worth it when he told them, "If no one stepforth, who are we as a people?"