NEWS

Life saver: Mother says son caused gang members to flee

Harrison Keegan
HKEEGAN@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Police say a pair of "Honky" gang members — spewing racial slurs — threatened to kill a black woman and her four kids.

Prosecutors have charged the men using hate crime statutes.

Aaron W. Williams, 23, and Austin Pierce, 35, have been charged with attempted burglary and property damage motivated by discrimination.

The woman inside the home that night, Dewan Newsom, said she is still trying to process exactly what happened last Friday when two men banged out her windows and threatened to kill her family. But she is mostly thankful for her 14-year-old son who scared the men away.

"My children were basically pleading and begging for their lives, asking them to please stop," Newsom said. "It is just scary to actually really have to deal with something like this."

Williams and Pierce are being held in Greene County Jail on $25,000 bond. A recommendation document says the men are threats to the community because of the nature of this crime and their gang affiliation.

Springfield's NAACP branch sent out a statement in reaction to the charges. President Cheryl Clay said in a release that her heart goes out to the family.

"Once again we are struck with the dangerous racial divides that exist in our community," Clay said in a release. "We must remember that when a community divides against itself the forces of hate become emboldened and empowered."

A probable cause statement says police responded to a home on the 1700 block of North Douglas Avenue on Feb. 6 where a pair of windows had been broken. Newsom told police she was at home with four of her children when she saw two white men — later identified as Williams and Pierce — standing in her front yard, the statement says.

Newsom said she asked the men to leave, and they then began cussing at her and using racial slurs. One of the men asked Newsom if she wanted to fight, at which time she went back inside and locked the door, according to the statement.

Williams and Pierce then began banging on the door, apparently trying to force entry into the home, the statement says. The men yelled out "We'll kill you," and "Come outside and get hurt," according to the statement.

Newsom said she tried to keep her cool, but she was most worried about her 14-year-old son, Dearies Hempstead, who had run up to the store to get some cough drops.

"I just kept calm, I was worried about my son," Newsom said. "These people are so angry, that if they see my son coming from the store, if they couldn't get to me, they would hurt my son."

Newsom told police two of her children armed themselves with kitchen knives in case the men gained entry into the home, according to the statement.

Williams and Pierce knocked out two of the three windows on the front door, which caused glass to fall inside and injure a 12-year-old girl, according to the statement.

Then Dearies showed up.

Newsom said she thinks Dearies, who is tall for his age, might have scared off Williams and Pierce and saved her family.

"He is a lifesaver," Newsom said. "He came back from the store just in the nick of time. The guys saw how tall he was and they kind of fled the scene."

Dearies told police he heard the men say "White power" and "Honkies rule," according to the statement. Dearies yelled at the males to leave and they called him the N-word before breaking the window and running away, the statement says.

Pierce and Williams were arrested a few blocks from the home shortly after the incident, according to police. Newsom identified them as the men who had been banging on their door, but she said she had never seen them in the neighborhood before.

Newsom said things have been calm on the block since that scary night, but it has been difficult to put the situation in perspective for her children.

"This is Black History month so this is kind of sad," Newsom said. "But I tell them all we can do is keep our heads up and just keep living… We look at ourselves every day in the mirror and we know exactly who we are."

Williams later told police he was intoxicated at the time of the incident and didn't remember what he said, but he acknowledged he probably used racial slurs, according to the statement.

Williams told police he was a member of the "417 Honkies," the statement says. Williams has a tattoo of a swastika but he denied being a white supremacist, saying "I'm just proud to be white," according to the statement.

Pierce said a black male at the house said something race related to he and Williams, the statement says. Pierce said he and Williams then became angry and ran up to the home in an attempt to fight the male, according to the statement.

Pierce said he realized during the incident he was making a mistake and told Williams they should leave, according to the statement. Both men denied trying to force entry into the home.

The statement says Pierce has "White" tattooed on his right calf and "Pride" tattooed on his left calf. Pierce said he is not affiliated with any gang or white supremacy group, according to the statement.

A bond recommendation document says Pierce is a prior and persistent felony offender with multiple correctional stays in Wyoming.

Prosecutors are trying the case under a Missouri statute that allows some misdemeanors to be prosecuted as felonies when the crimes are hate crimes motivated by race.

The News-Leader continues to learn details about a local group of individuals who identify themselves as a "Honky." In police reports, these individuals and groups are often referred to using alternate spellings, "Honkey" or "Honkies." There are also multiple groups who use the moniker, including "Southwest Honky," "417 Honky" and — the group first believed to use the name — "Joplin Honky." It is unclear what, if any, relationship the groups share. Law enforcement sources have described all groups using the name "Honky" as prison gangs that become unorganized when released.

Mark Pitcavage, director of investigative research with the Anti-Defamation League, said law enforcement has been dealing with Honky gangs since 2008 and the group's numbers are increasing.

He said one of the Anti-Defamation League's primary white supremacist-related concerns for Missouri is the rapid growth of white supremacist prison and street gangs in recent years.

Joshua Hagood, the man police believe shot Springfield officer Aaron Pearson last month, has ties to the Southwest Honkys.