Ernest Perce, a local nut case, first made news by purchasing a billboard in a predominantly black part of Harrisburg that depicted a black man in chains with the caption, "Slaves, obey your masters," with a corresponding biblical reference.
Last Halloween he marched in the Mechanicsburg Halloween parade, dressed as a zombie, wearing a placard stating, "Muhammad of Islam." One of the Muslim spectators at the parade attempted to pull the sign from his neck. While Perce implored the police to charge the man with attempted homicide, the police eventually charged the man with a summary offence of harassment.
The case was assigned to District Justice (Magistrate)Mark Martin, who heard the case, determined there was no basis for the harassment charge, and found the man not guilty. To make matters worse for Perce, Martin lectured him about being a provocative pain in the ass.
Perce had recorded the hearing and lecture, and posted an edited version of the hearing on the internet to make it appear that the judge was a Muslim, who found the man not guilty bcause of the defendant's religion.
Judge Martin, a lifelong Lutheran and Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserves, found himself buried in hate mail and death threats from around the country. It got so bad that hte county had to move his office and court room to the county court house for his safety.
Perce posted on the internet that the Muslim Martin is using his district justice position to impose Sharia law. He soon received support from the Middle Eastern Forum, which is a right-wing pro-Israel watchdog group that monitors universities' Middle Eastern Studies programs. They demanded that the State Judicial conduct Board remove him from office.
In a few weeks Martin will feel much safer. He and his unit will be shipping out to Afghanistan where he'll be more secure.
