Outcast Amish clan attacks other Amish

BERGHOLZ, Ohio, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A group of Amish men in Bergholz, Ohio, is accused of a series of Amish-on-Amish attacks across four eastern Ohio counties, police say.

The men, called the "Bergholz Clan" and led by Bishop Sam Mullet, allegedly broke into two Amish family homes and cut men's beards and women's hair Tuesday in Carroll and Holmes counties, the Tribune Chronicle newspaper in Warren, Ohio, reported.

Beverly Cushman, Westminster College associate professor of religion and Christian education, said the act of cutting a woman's hair and a man's beard is to humiliate them.

"The Bible says women are not to cut their hair, that hair is a blessing and is part of a woman's beauty and it belongs to their husband. To have hair forcefully cut is to be shamed," Cushman told the newspaper. "For the men with a beard, you can only begin to grow a beard when you get married. It is a symbol of full status, a symbol of your adult manhood. Again, for it to be cut is to be shamed."

The group of men is also believed to be responsible for an attack on a family in Trumbull County in September.

Barbara Miller, a victim of the September attack, told police the attackers were led by two relatives who had joined Mullet's clan.

Police say the Bergholz Clan, which is under investigation by at least four sheriff's departments, is carrying out the attacks over religious differences.

No arrests have been made but Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly said Holmes County will be seeking assault and burglary charges against the attackers.