CNN news 2011-11-26 加文本

cnn news 2011-11-26

GARY TUCHMAN, cnn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In rural eastern Ohio, the Amish have lived for generations in peace and solitude. But recently in the middle of the night, an Amish woman in this house, Arlene Miller, called 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Carroll County 911.

ARLENE MILLER, VICTIM: We have terrorists here. Somebody is terrorizing us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then her husband, Myron, took the phone.

MYRON MILLER, VICTIM: I opened my door and asked what they want. The one guy who reached in grabbed me by my beard and pulled me out.

TUCHMAN: Grabbed him by his beard and then cut it off. Myron Miller is one of at least five Amish men in Ohio who have been victims of bizarre beard-cutting attacks. That's right. Beard-cutting attacks.

Fred Abdalla is the sheriff in Jefferson County, Ohio.

FRED ABDALLA, SHERIFF, JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO: This is very degrading to an Amish man. One Amish man said he'd rather -- he'd rather die than have his beard cut off. That's how bad it is.

TUCHMAN: Myron Miller was attacked by five men. He escaped before his entire beard was cut. He talked, but like many Amish who don't like publicity, did not want to face the camera.

M. MILLER: It doesn't make sense to us, either. Why somebody would just want to start cutting beards, you know, terrorize people.

TUCHMAN: Myron Miller's wife did not want her face on camera at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.

TUCHMAN (on camera): OK. That's my first time putting a horse on a buggy.

(voice-over) But she did offer to take me on a horse and buggy ride to talk about the fear in the community.

(on camera) Amish people aren't used to being scared. It's such a peaceful lifestyle, right?

A. MILLER: We never locked our doors before this happened. But now that this has happened, we have -- we are locking our doors.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And this is who they say they're trying to keep out. These Amish men, who were arrested in connection with the beard-cutting case of Myron Miller. This was a court hearing for three of the five men arrested. But the sheriff says the men were ordered to do the beard cuttings by one particular man. ABDALLA: I have dealt with a lot of Amish. They're just beautiful people. But I can't compare Sam Mullet to the ones that I've met.

TUCHMAN: Sam Mullet is the bishop of a breakaway Amish sect that's in a deep rift with the mainstream Amish, who say he's dangerously manipulative over his flock.

But why the beard cutting? It's a profound insult to the Amish, and Mullet's followers have allegedly used it as a weapon to punish people who might have insulted them. Three of the men arrested are sons of Sam Mullet.

ABDALLA: He's a domineering individual. Nothing moves in that community without him saying it's OK. He calls all of the shots. They're literally scared to death of him.

And I've said that he is a cult leader over the years, because they will do anything he tells them to do. The one said they will die for their father. That's how severely he has them brainwashed.

TUCHMAN: So we went to the tiny down of Burkholt (ph), Ohio, in search of Sam Mullet, and we found him. He wasn't very pleased to see us.

(on camera) If the sheriff says you're a cult, what's your response to that?

SAM MULLET, IMPLICATED IN BEARD CUTTINGS: We're not a cult.

TUCHMAN: But did you -- have you ordered men to cut people's beards off?

MULLET: I did not order anything.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But Sam Mullet does not deny that his sons or the other men committed the beard attacks.

MULLET: They do what they think is right. Yes, I could have probably said, "You're not going to do this." And maybe they wouldn't have right then. But sooner or later, it would have happened anyway.

TUCHMAN (on camera): But why do you think these people had their beards cut off?

MULLET: We're getting in too deep. It's too long a story. It goes way back. I'm just not interested.

TUCHMAN: Do you think those people did something wrong?

MULLET: I'm telling you I'm not interested. Can you hear me?

TUCHMAN (voice-over): To Myron Miller's wife, Arlene, who later decided she would appear on camera, there's no doubt who's behind the attacks.

(on camera) Who do you believe is responsible for all this?

A. MILLER: Sam. Sam Mullet.

TUCHMAN: The Amish don't believe it's a commandment from God to drive in a horse and buggy and not drive a car. It's a way to keep themself separated from the outside world. For most mainstream Amish, when they need to go far away from where they live, they hire a non- Amish driver to take them, but most of the time, it's a horse and buggy.

(voice-over) In the beard-cutting attacks, authorities say the Amish perpetrators did indeed hire a man to drive a get-away car but say the man was not aware of the crimes.

(on camera) The FBI is now investigating the situation. What's your feeling about that?

MULLET: We're not guilty, so I have nothing to hide. If they want to come and check us out, we'd be glad to see them here.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): We're not sure how glad Mullet is now, though. It was the feds who placed him under arrest. Back then, he told us he was the righteous one.

MULLET: The people that are spreading lies around about us, and the way they're treating us by getting the sheriff, getting the law and everything, are asking for a big punishment from the man up above.