Me and the Devil Blues

Last night I saw a legal panel on Fox led by Greta Van Susteren being amazed and surprised that now on-the-lamb fugitive Warren Jeffs has just made the FBI's 10 most wanted list since he isn't accused of killing anyone or robbing a bank. After all, this is the famous list that has Osama Bin Laden's name at the top. One guest on Fox openly wondered what this trivial character did to powerful people to get them mad enough to put his name on such a list? Another seemed surprised that it has taken so long to find him and predicted a quick arrest now that Jeffs made the mighty FBI list. Funny, I doubt if the majority of people in Colorado City could even tell you what the FBI initials stand for. 

I wish these Fox people had seen what I saw (FYI: Larry King and Nancy Grace also dedicated segments last night to Jeffs). Obviously, Jeffs is no UBL. Jeffs preaches hate, of course.  (A tape I have of  him made for teaching grade school children, for example, notes that black people are so inferior that were any of the kids to have intimate contact---even a single kiss---with one they could never get into heaven.) But ultimately the success and power of Jeffs' group comes from his isolation. And, so unlike UBL, that means he poses little threat to anyone not in his group; he thinks we're all going to hell and he has no interest in us. Yet, that does not mean that the children among his estimated 10,000 followers are not United States citizens (even if they have never been taught that) and entitled to protection from our laws.

But it has not been and will not be easy to bring Warren Jeffs to justice. He and UBL have that much in common. Jeffs will not just turn up now that he is on some list and no one among his followers will give him up to the FBI; they all believe they need his personal approval to get into heaven. I do think Jeffs will eventually be arrested and mount a vigorous and well financed defense that he is a victim of religious persecution over his polygamy and eccentric beliefs. But when that day comes, I hope everyone stays focused on the fact that the case will really be--- on many levels---- much more about child abuse. 

Anyway, my colleague Kate Silver and I split a Nevada Press Award for Best Investigative Reporting/Feature Writing for our stories about life in Colorado City. In Internet speak "Big Trouble In Polygamy Town" falls into the tl;dr (too long;didn't read) category at about 10,000 words. But if you want to know or have any doubt why this man belongs on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List please read the story and all will be made clear. Meanwhile, let's all hope the FBI gets their man soon and no one gets hurt in the process.

photo by Ho - AFP/Getty Images