FRESNO-MADERA CO. INCIDENTS

1/8/45, 1/19/45 Selma, Fresno Co., Calif. George Takauchi home stoned by high school boys. Local police described it as malicious mischief. No one injured. 

2/2/45 Reedley, Fresno County, Calif.: George Kimura's farm home, ten-anted by Mr. Mitchell, was subjected to the intimidation of night riders in auto shooting at the building. No one was injured. George Kimura, whose father was also living on the premises, had returned to say goodbye to his father before being sent overseas. Night riders reappeared at Kimura home the next night, though no firearms were discharged on the second visit. Case still under investigation. 

2/10/45 Fowler district near Fresno, Fresno County, Calif.: Frank Osaki home fired at by unknown night assailant. Shots hit the house, but no one was injured. Osaki says he is not frightened. Few clues. Case checkup still continuing.

2/15/45 Parlier, Fresno County, Calif.: S. J. Kakutani home subjected to six shotgun blasts from farm vineyard about 60 yards away, by evidence of footprints. Only one blast struck the house. Kakutani and wife at home but unharmed. District Attorney believes it the act of hoodlums.

2/16/45 Selma, Fresno County, Calif. Robert Morishige's home destroyed by fire believed to be of incendiary origin. Home unoccupied at time, but furniture in it belonged to four evacuee families; belongings valued at $2000 to $3000. Safe opened and looted.

3/11/45 Sanger (rural 8 miles south), Fresno County: T. Nakamoto farm safe allegedly robbed by farmer-employee T.E. Pierce who was arrested by Fresno County Sheriff and placed in County jail at request of property and farm custodian Henry A. Harr on March 12th. Charge was "theft and pilfering with trial set before Justice of the Peace Officer of Sanger for March 13. San Francisco WRA Area Office notified by Paul J. Fischer at 2:00 p.m. 

3/24/45 Fresno, Calif. - James Owada, residing at corner of Dinuba and Brawley Avenues, reported being intimidated by a sailor and two civilians. This is a second occurrence to Owada and believed to be by the same people. Sheriff's office and Shore Patrol were notified and are following up same.

3/26/45 Madera, Madera County, Calif.: The home of Minoru Ohashi, P0 Box 187, located 8 miles south of Madera, half mile east of intersection of Ripperdan and Madera Avenues, was shot at but bullets did not strike any member of the family. However, they entered room where family was sleeping, just missing them by a few feet. The five shots were fired by unknown persons. Investigation under way by sheriff's office.

3/27/45 Fresno, Calif. - 23 tombstones (20 being markers of persons of Japanese ancestry and 3 persons of German ancestry) were overturned in Mountain View Cemetery in the northwest section of that city. Damage is believed to have been done by a group of boys. Investigation being carried on by sheriff's office.

4/3/45 Madera, Madera Co., Calif. - at 3:00 p.m. fire destroyed tool shed belonging to property of Fred T. Kumagai located one mile south of intersection of Ripperdan and Madera Avenues. Fire is believed to have been caused by defective wiring. Full investigation is being made by State Forestry Fire Dept; Sheriff W.O. Justice and Dist. Atty. Everett S. Coffee.

4/4/45 Fresno, Fresno Co., Calif. - Several boys (believed to be Filipinos) threw rocks through a window in the home of S. C. Sakamoto, 608 E Street, Fresno, at 12:25 a.m. on April 4. Police were summoned and noted complaint.

5/5/45 Fresno, 1528 Kern Street, at midnight windows of book store temporary resident of Kanichi Komoto. Wife, two sons in bed. Rock and half a brick thrown. Patrolman unable to find witnesses.

5/8/45 Fresno. Fresno County, Calif. Setsugo Sakamoto, 61, 608 F. Street. First shooting attempt to occur in a city, took place at 10:50 p.m. At home at the time were Sakamoto's daughter and her husband, James Collier, honorably discharged from the Navy. Three shots from a .58 revolver struck the house, one entering the bedroom wall one foot from the head of Mrs. Collier. Sakamoto has a son-in-law, Hoagy Ogawa, at Snelling, and an adopted son, Eddie Aburaman, now fighting in the Philippines and with the army in the Pacific for 26 months.

5/9/45 Fresno, 708 E Street, brick thrown at former Japanese hospital, broke screen and window pane. Hospital now being used as residence by Mrs. Pearl Diel, custodian of Okanogi Hospital, her two children and Dr. Robert Tabuno. Brick found and fingerprinted.

5/20/45 Selma, Fresno County, Calif.: Four slugs from a high powered rifle entered the home of Masaru Miyamoto at 12:10 a.m., Sunday, May 20. One slug went through a blanket on the bed on which Miyamoto was sleeping. A second went into the bedroom wall, having passed within six inches of the crib of his three-year-old son, Edward. Wife and daughter, Susie, five, also were in the house. Miyamoto's brother, Noboru, member of the 442nd Infantry, has several decorations including the Purple Heart. The family returned to a 75-acre vineyard in February from the Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers, Ariz.

5/20/45 Caruthers, Fresno County, Calif. — At 1:00 a.m. Sunday May 20, six shots from high powered rifle were fired into house of Mrs. Nobuye Masada, Route 1, Box 46, Caruthers. Mrs. Masada, widow, was born in Japan in 1889. Family consists of Alice Aiko, 17, Yuriko Lilly, 22; Katsumi, 30; Saburo,15; Tokio, 17; Toshihiro, 24. he returned to the family's 20-acre home April 20, 1345 from the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas.

Sheriff's office investigating incident.

5/23/45 Reedley, Fresno County, Calif. — At approximately 10:00 p.m. on May 22, four shots were fired into home of Charles K. Iwasaki, 36, Route 1, Box 384, Reedley, Calif. No one injured nor any property damaged. Reported to Sheriff's office, whose men appeared in five minutes but were unable to apprehend the gunmen. Investigators believed shots to be fired by boys or high school youths because of small size of footprints found in vicinity. Believed a shotgun was employed. Iwasaki's family consists of wife, Isami Ann, 32; Norman 11; Amy, 8; and Lawrence, 5. The family are Nisei. His father an Issei, Charles Isasaki, also resides with them.

5/24/45 Fresno, Fresno County, Calif.: James Owada, reported being intimidated again, believed by the same people. Sheriff's office and Shore Patrol were notified and are following the case.Source: “Special Field Reports of Allan Markley” to Dillon S. Meyer, Director WRA, Attn: M.M. Tozier, Chief of Reports, WRA

ACLU Group Asks for Felony Charge in Parlier Terrorism Law Enforcement Not Adequate in Fresno, Says Besig's Letter

SAN FRANCISCO —Attorney General Robert W. Kenny was urged today to file felony charges against Levi Multanen of Parlier, who admitted he had sent four blasts from a double-barreled shotgun into the walls of the home of Charles Iwasaki on the night of May 22 while the latter, his wife, three children and a grandfather were inside the house. Multanen, on May 28, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of exhibiting a deadly weapon "in a rude, angry or threatening manner," and was given a suspended sentence by Justice of the Peace L. B. Crosby, who admitted the decision was "a community  arrangement."

     In a letter signed by Ernest Besig, local director of the Union, it was charged that "District Attorney James M. Theusen, in filing only a misde-meanor charge under Sec. 417 of the Penal Code, in the face of repeated acts of terrorism against persons of Japanese ancestry in Fresno county that have gone unpunished, is not adequately enforcing the law."

     The Union reminded the attorney general that under Article V, Sec. 21, of the State Constitution, "it becomes your duty 'to prosecute any violations of the law of which the superior court shall have jurisdiction' in any county where 'any law of the State is not being adequately enforced.'"

     The letter suggested that Multanen may still be prosecuted in the Superior Court under Sec. 245 of the Penal Code, which punishes assault with a deadly weapon by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not exceeding ten years. "And," said the Union, "the facts may also warrant a charge under Sec. 217 of the Penal Code punishing assault to commit murder by a term in the State prison of not less than one nor more than fourteen years."

     "If the lawlessness in the "San Joaquin valley, directed at persons of Japanese ancestry," said the letter, "continues to go unchecked by the local law enforcement agents, it may, of course, become necessary to suggest to Governor Warren that he call out the State Guard to protect life and property."

     In urging intervention by the attorney general, the Union pointed out that such persons as the secretary of war, Governor Earl Warren, Secretary Ickes, Commander Edward N. Scheiberling of the American Legion, representatives of church groups and attorney general himself have insisted that returning Japanese be accorded full recognition of their constitutional and statutory rights. "Decisive action in this explosive situation," the letter concluded, “will have the support of all who believe in tolerance instead of the race doctrines of Hitler." Source Pacific Citizen, Saturday June 9, 1945, page 2

Fresno Official Defends Action In Shooting

FRESNO, Cal.—District Attorney James M. Thuesen replied on June 4 to a charge from the Northern California office of the American Civil Liberties Union of "lack of persecution" of anti-Nisei terrorism in Fresno County.

     Thuesen sharply took issue with a letter from Ernest Besig, Northern California director of the ACLU, calling on Attorney General Robert W. Kenny to file felony charges against Levi Multanen, Parlier rancher, who was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to firing four shots at the home of Charles Iwasaki in Parlier.

     Thuesen declared that the attorney general has stated publicly that Fresno county "has done more than any other county thus far in taking steps against the terrorists."

     "If Multanen had committed a felony," Thuesen declared, "a felony charge would have been filed. As it is, this office filed the only charge possible—and we made it stick."

     Multanen had pleaded guilty in Justice of the Peace L. B. Crosby's court to a charge of "exhibiting a deadly weapon, in a rude, angry or threatening manner."

     Thuesen questioned Besig's statement that Multanen can be prosecuted in Superior Court for assault with a deadly weapon or assault with intent to commit murder.

     "Multanen obviously didn't intend to hurt anyone, as he shot at the roof," the district attorney explained. "Had this office filed a felony charge, we would have known in advance the obvious result: Multanen would have been acquitted.

     "The best way in the world to break down law enforcement is to file a charge, knowing in advance you can't obtain a conviction."

     “In all these (anti-Nisei) cases such charges will be filed as fit the facts and circumstances."

     Thuesen recalled his office has filed felony charges against the unknown person or persons who fired rifle shots into the homes of Japanese Americans in the Fresno area.

     "Felony charges were filed because whoever fired the shots did so with the obvious intent of hurting someone," Thuesen added.

     He said the "full facilities" of the sheriff's office plus his own staff of investigators are sifting admittedly slender clues in two other attacks, but added: "I am confident that if a solution is possible, it will be made." Source Pacific Citizen, Saturday June 9, 1945, page 2

Secretary Ickes Raps Lenient Verdict in Parlier Gun Case Declares Justice Crosby Disgraced Bench by Action

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Interior Ickes on May 31 said that Justice of the Peace L. B. Crosby of Parlier, Calif., was a "disgrace to the bench" because of his conduct of a case involving a terror attack against a Japanese American family.

     "If California has any law under which it can reach out and demote that justice of the peace they oughtn't to lose any time," Ickes said.

     Crosby gave a six months suspended sentence to Levi Multanen, 33, who was charged with using a gun "in a rude and threatening manner" after four shots were fired into the home of Charles Iwasaki in Parlier.

     "I'll say it was damned rude," Ickes said.

"Certain parts of California instead of having law and order as their ideal have law and disorder," Ickes added. "It's terrible."  Source Pacific Citizen, Saturday June 9, 1945, page 2

Judge Crosby Stands Pat on Lenient Verdict

PARLIER, Calif.---Justice of the Peace L. Justice of L.B. Crosby declared here that he would take "full responsibility" for the suspended sentence given to a man who confessed to an act of terrorism against a Japanese American family.

     Judge Crosby explained his lenient verdict by declaring that “it was an arrangement" to prevent further violence.

     "There was a crowd of Parlier farmers and townspeople in the courtroom before the trial started, and we talked the situation over, all of us," Judge Crosby said. "We agreed we didn’t want any more shootings in our community and we agreed we would each of us act individually to see there would be no more.

     "It was the arrangement that there would be no severe punishment and that the shootings would stop. I think that was the important thing.”

     Crosby said that 98 per cent of his community felt the War Relocation authority was wrong in “sending the Japanese back” and that a jail sentence for Multanen would fan fan the anger to the point where other violence would be likely.

    "I am sure I can guarantee there will be no more cases of this kind in the Parlier community, if they will simply leave us to handle the matter, “ Judge Crosby added.

Source Pacific Citizen, Saturday June 9, 1945, page 2

 From the Frying Pan by Bill Hosakawa

Logic Lost on Night-Rider Mentalities

     The lonely California side road was deserted the night Levi Multanen, a Parlier rancher, took the law in his own hands. Multanen fired four shots into the home of Charles Iwasaki, an American of Japanese extraction, and then fled into the darkness like a common, cringing criminal.

     Apparently, Levi Multanen was not so clever as some California night riders, or else the sheriff was more alert than most of his colleagues, for Multanen was apprehended and brought to trial.

     Multanen admitted the shooting, but pleaded a revenge motive. He sought to justify the attempted slaying on his assumption that his nephew had been killed in the South Pacific. And then he revealed that he had received a letter from the nephew the day after that nephew had been "avenged" in a California farmhouse.

     What sort of backswood logic and imbecility is this that a man should attempt to kill innocent countrymen under the delusion that his kin was a casualty of war? That sort of thing, when committed in passion, is known as running amok.

     But the insanity of the situation becomes more patent. The justice of the peace who heard the case sentenced the admitted gunman to a six-month term, and then suspended that sentence. In other words, the law in a stinking hometown decision recognized an attempt at murder only as serious as a misdemeanor— petty pickpockets, vagrants and drunks have been given stiffer terms. And in suspending sentence, the court gave recognition to the doctrine that "Japs" are fair game for any boozed-up American fascist with a rifle and a fast car…..

     Meanwhile, at the Minidoka war relocation center, Hunt, Idaho, the deaths of two more service men were made known last week.

     One was Pvt. Ben L. Stafford, a marine, killed in the bloody battle for Okinawa, 325 miles from the Japanese homeland. Private Stafford's father has a war job, too, that of looking after the welfare of several thousands' of the "Japs" on whom Levi Multanen sought to wreak his vengeance.

     But Harry L. Stafford, Minidoka project director, knew that these "Japs" from his center had sent hundreds of their sons, husbands and fathers to fight for America. He knew that more than 30 of these men had made the supreme sacrifice, that almost a hundred had suffered wounds in the war to make democracy safe for people like Levi Multanen.

     And if the elder Stafford needed a reminder of the war role of these "Japs," he had but to remember that Minidoka's other death of the week was- that of T/3 Eddie Fukui, lost in the Kerama islands lying off Okinawa.

     Eddie Fukui's parents were evacuated from Tacoma, Wash., in the spring of 1942. Their wartime sacrifice, the government decreed, was that of leaving their homes for a barracks city behind barbed wire enclosures so that the war could get on. And the government chose Harry Stafford to administer the camp which ultimately became home to the Fukui family.

     But there is no great nor small, no distinction of rank nor power nor prestige, Caucasian norJap, in the parental grieving of Shuichi Fukui, evacuee, and Harry Stafford, project director. A great void may have separated the two men in their daily lives. But in the numbness that the deaths of sons has brought to the two men's hearts, there is true equality and the kinship of having given loved ones to the cause of peace.

     Shuichi Fukui, the dead soldier's father, no longer is a resident of the Minidoka camp. He has resettled in Burley, Idaho, and but for the whims of fortune it might have been his home that Levi Multanen—or any of the handful of Levi Multanens that speed along California highways by night — fired into with hatred in his heart.

     Logic, reason and plain common sense talk apparently do not make much of an impression on nightrider mentalities. But it might be worthwhile for the war department to undertake a little experiment in trying to differentiate for these unthinking ones the hated enemy Jap from persons of Japanese descent who are Americans in everything except their physical characteristics.

     The war department might bring back a few of its veterans —perhaps buddies who have seen men like Pvt. Stafford and T/3 Fukui die—to explain just what it is they are fighting for.

     We feel the kin of those who have fallen would feel their loss to be not in vain if all Americans could be made to realize the principles for which their men died. Source Pacific Citizen, Saturday June 9, 1945, page 5