Judge Won’t Consider Release For Ohio Amish Leader

CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge in Ohio says he won’t consider a renewed defense move for pretrial release of a breakaway Amish leader charged in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish.

The defense told the judge on Monday that the government is trying to demonize 66-year-old Samuel Mullet Sr. and invoke the memory of a deadly 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff in opposing pretrial release.

But Judge Dan Aaron Polster rejected the request to reconsider release on bond.

Prosecutors say Mullet is a risk to flee and poses a danger to the community.

Mullet and 11 followers are charged in five beard- and hair-cutting attacks on other Amish last year in a feud over church discipline. They have pleaded not guilty.