American Notes OREGON

Shuttle-bus driver Mulugeta Seraw had just been dropped off by friends at his apartment in Portland, Ore., when a car pulled up. Out jumped three young men sporting shaved heads, military jackets and heavy work boots. Shouting racial slurs, they set upon the 28-year-old Ethiopian, kicking and beating him with a baseball bat. Eight hours later Seraw died in a Portland hospital. Authorities say he was the third person murdered in the U.S. by racist toughs called skinheads.

The crime shocked Portland, where police and a local grand jury have been joined by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office in a search for the killers. The militant Jewish Defense Organization in New York City has offered a $10,000 reward for information. According to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, there are about 2,000 members of racist skinhead gangs active in 21 states. Lately they have become more visible on the West Coast, possibly because of recruiting efforts by the Aryan Youth Movement, a neo-Nazi group whose leader, John Metzger, was among those involved in the brawl on the Geraldo Rivera show. Their menace may be spreading. Warns David Lowe, an associate director of the A.D.L.: "There have been skinhead activities in areas where racist activities have never made inroads before. They are young kids, and they are very mobile."