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Texas Raid Rocks Other Polygamists

Similar communities in Utah, Ariz., fear they might be next on list

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted May 8, 2008 10:40 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The raid on the Texas compound of a polygamist sect has similar communities worried, reports the New York Times. Groups of polygamists belonging to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints live along the Utah-Arizona border and many fear that the crackdown on their Texas brethren means they could be next as the federal government leans on states to get tough on illegal practices.

"They think they’re going to be next—that there’s so much pressure being brought on me that I’m going to raid them,” said Utah's attorney general. He and his Arizona counterpart plan to address a town hall meeting tonight to inform concerned FLDS members that the states don't plan any mass arrests—but that child abuse in their communities will not be tolerated.

Mary Batchelor, director of the advocacy group Principal Voices, left, speaks at a pro-polygamy rally Monday, April 14, 2008, in Salt Lake City.
Mary Batchelor, director of the advocacy group Principal Voices, left, speaks at a pro-polygamy rally Monday, April 14, 2008, in Salt Lake City.   (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
The raid on an FLDS compound that saw hundreds of women and children removed has polygamist communities in Utah and Arizona worried.
The raid on an FLDS compound that saw hundreds of women and children removed has polygamist communities in Utah and Arizona worried.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are assisted by law enforcement officials as they board a San Angelo Independent School District bus which is being used to relocate them from Eldorado, Texas, to San Angelo, Texas, April 6, 2008.
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are assisted by law enforcement officials as they board a San Angelo Independent School District bus which is being used to relocate...   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
A family photo of a Mormon fundamentalist with his five wives and some of his 29 children.
A family photo of a Mormon fundamentalist with his five wives and some of his 29 children.   (Getty Images)
A man demonstrates outside the Utah trial of a polygamist.
A man demonstrates outside the Utah trial of a polygamist.   (Getty Images)
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Meeting will address issues in polygamist communities
Spectrum (Utah)

List reveals FLDS man has 21 wives
CNN

Mexican Mormons don't want Texas polygamists coming south
Dallas Morning News

 
Arizona • polygamy • Utah • Mormonism • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

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