St. Maarten Private Eye

CAP: Web site sxmprivate.eye.com released this picture of white supremacist Bodo Muth, the man who is allegedly behind the cyber attack on St. Maarten.

Racist cyber attack paints SXM black

By Hilbert Haar

GREAT BAY – A racist cyber attack on St. Maarten by a web site called insidesxm.com provoked angry reactions from bloggers on sxmprivateeye.com. Chief Prosecutor Mr. T.H.W. Stein, who looked at the site Friday afternoon on Today's request, called the content "tasteless."

Insidesxm.com states on a page filled with dramatic pictures, "Discover the truth about the Friendly Island, also known as Sint Maarten. Under the surface, there is danger! Human predators of a dark complexion are hiding in the dark. Suddenly they attack, rob, stab and maybe kill you. For many tourists the vacation turned into a nightmare! Stay away from this island!"

The site operator goes on saying, "out there are thousands of crime victims," and, "the best precaution is not to visit the island." Furthermore, the site states "gangs and criminals rule the island."

It displays a picture of CBS-producer Ryan Smith who was attacked a year and a half ago together with his colleague Dick Jefferson in what became known as a "gay-bashing incident." The page also shows a picture of some local girls who smile at the camera, dressed up in Christmas outfits.

The caption underneath the picture reads, "Behind these smiling faces is hate and anger. The locals don't want you here for more than one day. They hate white people! Having a vacation here is like having a vacation at the south side of Chicago!"

Insidesxm.com goes on making outrageous statements like the one that suggests the murder rate in St. Maarten is higher than in Jamaica. In reality, one is able to count the amount of murders on the island so far on the fingers of one hand. Try that in Jamaica.

The web site triggered a furious reaction by Dr. Voodoo, a regular blogger on sxmprivateeye.com. "I have recently discovered a new website that reeks of white supremacist racism, started by a German man who goes by the name of Bodo Muth. I am myself white and this site makes me very angry and sick to the depth of my being."

The angry blogger suggests that Bodo Muth "leaves St. Maarten as soon as he can. Nobody here supports his views and racist hatred is not welcome here."

Chief prosecutor Stein reviewed the web site on Today's request. "It is completely tasteless and it gives a totally wrong picture of St. Maarten," he said.

Stein will provide the web link to colleagues of the American Justice Department and ask them to have a look at it. Chances that the Justice Department will act against the site are not very big. "In the United States this probably is protected by the First Amendment," Stein said. "Therefore, if Mr. Muth is in America, the authorities will not extradite him. However, if he is in St.Maarten, it becomes a different matter."

The prosecutor did an online search of the census records, but Bodo Muth is not registered there.

Later Friday, Today discovered that Muth is indeed on the island, and that is where the story becomes really weird. Muth operates a company called No Rush Tours in Simpson Bay that organizes island tours, so his own income depends on tourism. The company has an office on Welfare Road, but Friday afternoon phone calls only returned a message, "Hi, this is Bodo. I am not available right now. Leave a message after the beep"

The picture of the smiling girls in Christmas outfits comes straight from the No Rush Tours web site. There, the girls serve as an invitation to come to the Friendly Island. On insidesxm.com, Muth shows his dark side by using the same image to vilify St. Maarteners and to encourage his own potential clients to stay away.

The Public Prosecutor's Office will investigate the matter.

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CAP: A more recent picture of white supremacist Bodo Muth and his girlfriend Annett Wunderlich.

Muth's racist attack

triggers outrage

GREAT BAY – Bodo Muth's racist website insidesxm.com no longer exists. After sxmprivate.eye.com posted a blog about the hate-site and Today followed this up with a front page story, Muth's site disappeared from the worldwide web. The reports about Muth's racist attack on St. Maarten triggered a spate of reactions on Private Eye, where a record number of 35 web surfers expressed their anger. The story generated so much buzz that by midday, copies of Today's Saturday edition were hard to come by.

One Private Eye-blogger, Hady Nufyet, had the bright idea to send an email to No Rush Tours, the company Bodo Muth is involved with, to draw attention to their associate's racist activities. To his astonishment, the blogger received a response signed by one Alicia that read, "Yes, I am aware of that and I have no problem with that!"

This confirms the impression that Bodo Muth and No Rush Tours are one and the same.

In the meantime No Rush Tours removed all information about the company itself from its website while bloggers speculated about the identity of Alicia. The name could simply be another alias of Bodo Muth, who apparently also used the name Beau Robinson. Another blogger posted new pictures of Muth wit his girlfriend Annett Wunderlich.

But the facebook page that contained these pictures has also disappeared. Hotel owner B. Strehlke posted a reaction on Private Eye stating that he knew Muth and his girlfriend. "They contacted me some years ago in our hotel to work together as he wanted to start a tour company. As they never could provide proper papers stating that his company is legal we refused to work with them. Both seemed like some of those losers who come to the island without ever being able to make it."

According to Strehlke, Muth lives in Bellevue on the French side. To Bodo Muth he wrote, "The people of this island are so accepting and tolerant, they allow people from over one hundred nations to live and work her, while they themselves are a minority in their own country! Instead of dearly appreciating this attitude towards us foreigners you are seemingly nothing but a acist, if not a plain fascist. After apologizing look for professional help to understand your racism and do whatever is possible to overcome it."

For more reactions to Bodo Muth's racist attack on St. Maarten's citizens visit sxmprivateeye.com.

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French side will have to act against Muth

GREAT BAY – The American Justice Department will not act against white supremacist Bodo Muth because the content of his now defunct hate-site is protected by the First Amendment. Chief Prosecutor Mr.T.H.W. Stein confirmed this after he consulted his American colleagues.

It is almost certain that Muth is on the island, but he lives in Bellevue on the French side. "Our options to act against him are limited because of that," Stein said. "I will contact my French colleagues about it though. Maybe they will be able to kick him off the island."

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