Sixteen Amish defendants due in court in Ohio over beard-cutting attacks

Members of the Amish community wait to make their pleas in court in Millersburg, Ohio in October. Photograph: Mike Schenk/AP/The Daily Record

Sixteen Amish men and women face arraignment in federal court on charges involved in beard- and hair-cutting attacks against fellow Amish in Ohio.

An updated indictment filed last month added new allegations that the suspects tried to hide or destroy evidence, including a disposable camera, shears, and a bag of hair from the victims.

The four women recently added to the case are also due to appear alongside the original 12 defendants in federal court in Cleveland on Thursday afternoon.

The dozen previous defendants have pleaded not guilty.

A feud over church discipline allegedly led to attacks, in which the beards and hair of men and hair of women were cut – an act considered deeply offensive in Amish culture. The Amish believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry.

The updated indictment also charges alleged ringleader Sam Mullet Sr with lying to federal agents during their investigation by denying knowledge of an October assault.

The new defendants, Lovina Miller, Kathryn Miller, Emma Miller and Elizabeth Miller, are members of the Amish community in Bergholz in eastern Ohio near Steubenville, and are married to some of Mullet's nephews, according to the updated indictment filed in late March.

The 10-count indictment includes charges of conspiracy, assault and evidence tampering, in what prosecutors said were hate crimes motivated by religious differences.

The new charges also allege defendants used a disposable camera bought at Walmart to take pictures of the victims, then hid the camera from authorities until eventually turning it over on March 16.

Several members of the group living in Bergholz carried out the attacks in September, October and November by forcibly cutting the beards and hair of Amish men and women and then taking photos to shame them, authorities have said.

Mullet told the Associated Press in October that he didn't order the hair-cutting but didn't stop his sons and others from carrying it out. He said the goal was to send a message to other Amish that they should be ashamed of themselves for the way they were treating Mullet and his community.

Ohio has an estimated Amish population of just under 61,000 – second only to Pennsylvania – with most living in rural counties south and east of Cleveland.