'Ashford House 5' Attacker Thanks Fans for 'Keeping Him Sane' While in Prison

TINLEY PARK, IL — One of five men who stormed a suspected white supremacist group at Ashford House in Tinley Park in 2012 has a few words for supporters now that he's out of prison.

John Tucker, of the Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement, served 20 months for mob action, armed violence, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property in the Ashford House attack. Tucker and cohorts Cody Sutherlin, Dylan Sutherlin, Alex Stuck, and Jason Sutherlin burst into the restaurant and set upon the white supremacists with bats, axe handles, batons and hammers.

Tucker, via a blog, thanked supporters, telling them their letters "were things of beauty to eyes forced to view the despair of a broken system day after day and eyes that could not help but watch as any glimmer of hope faded from so many youths as they were dehumanized by the tortuous conditions in which they were forced to dwell." 

He went on to write how "a parcel of food here or some cosmetics there so often mean the difference between another night spent hungry or unclean and a good night’s rest, and never doubt the weight of one’s spirit in a time of need.

Your constant stream of letters and cards not only kept myself sane, but also gave tangible, physical proof of solidarity which revealed the tremendous weight of the conviction of people from the real world who likewise are willing to make a stand against the far too often accepted evils of the world, to an incarcerated populace who had often not heard of such people before. 

"... A support network populated by good-hearted, noble people who have often suffered first hand under the weight of unchecked and unopposed malice."

Tucker is the second of the five to be released. Cody, Dylan and Jason Sutherlin remain incarcerated.