Emma Graves Fitzsimmons and Mary Owen
Chicago Tribune
1:32 AM CDT
September 5, 2007

A 31-year-old Chicago man was charged with first-degree murder in the weekend drowning of a Vietnamese man who allegedly was pushed into Lake Michigan as he was fishing at Montrose Harbor, police said this morning.

The suspect, John J. Haley, of the 4500 block of West 55th Street, was also charged with aggravated battery in connection with the drowning death of 62-year-old Du Doan. He is due to appear for a bond hearing this afternoon at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse.

Earlier Tuesday police had said they were seeking charges against a man alleged to be affiliated with an anti-racism skinhead group. But police early this morning would not release any details about Haley, adding that additional information about him would be discussed during a 9:30 a.m. news conference at Chicago police headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave.

The Saturday morning death of Doan appeared to be the result of a violent outburst and not a crime motivated by hate, said police, who discounted an earlier theory that Doan might have been targeted because of his race.

The suspect and four friends were at the lakefront about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to watch the sunrise after attending a party, said Belmont Area Homicide Lt. Anthony Riccio. The suspect began to behave erratically. A friend restrained the man and persuaded him to leave after he picked a fight with one fisherman who, like Doan, was Asian, Riccio said.

But the man then peeled off from the group suddenly and lunged at another fisherman, Doan, Riccio said.

"The suspect pushed him from behind with two hands, launching him into the water," Riccio said.

Some nearby fishermen tried to rescue Doan with nets and poles, but none felt comfortable enough to swim out to him, police said. Doan, a Far Northwest Side father of four, did not know how to swim and quickly drowned.

The suspect returned to his group, which left the area in a vehicle, Riccio said. He later told them he had pushed a man into the lake and the entire group, including the suspect, went to police on Monday night, Riccio said.

Upon hearing of Saturday's attack, a man with Asian features told police that he was pushed into the lake about a month ago but had been able to swim safely to shore. That led police to theorize that Doan's death may have been the result of a hate crime.

But after interviewing the group that turned itself in on Sunday, Riccio said Doan's death was a crime committed by an "out of control" man who attacked for no apparent reason.

The suspect identified himself as part of a movement known as SHARP, or Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, Riccio said. The group he was with Saturday, and later at the police station, included an African-American man, Riccio said

Mark Potok, the director of a project that monitors hate crimes at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said skinhead groups such as SHARP often are just as violent as their racist counterparts.

"The [skinhead] movement began in England in the 1960s, and when it began, it was not at all racist," he said. "It was about working class pride. They wore heavy boots and cut their hair short because that is what there fathers in the factories did."

The skinhead movement migrated to the U.S. in the 1980s, where it was "hijacked by racists," Potok said. Today, there are both racist and non-racist skinheads, he said.

"Now it is more cultural than anything," Potok said. "It is a very macho, bar-fighting type of culture that is into brawling and drinking."

On Tuesday, fishermen at Montrose Harbor said the scenic spot is a prime location for catching salmon and trout and typically attracts an older crowd that gets along well.

But what happened to Doan had several shaken up. James Tipton said Montrose Harbor is his favorite place to relax, and the spot he recently chose to propose to his girlfriend.

"Now I'm pretty scared to be here," he said as he cast his line into the lake.

Neighbors of the Doan family said they had not seen the man's wife or children since Saturday morning. Doan was a "devoted family man" with two sons and two daughters who are in high school and college, said neighbor Louie Macapagal. Doan often tended his yard, he said.

"All the time, every day, he was watering the flowers, tending to the vegetables in the back," Macapagal said.