Answer Them Nothing: Bringing Down the Polygamous Empire of Warren Jeffs

· Chicago Review Press
4.5
6 reviews
Ebook
304
Pages
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About this ebook

When police raided the Short Creek compound of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1953, it soon became a political and publicity nightmare and eventually cost the governor of Arizona his job. From that point on, skittish public officials allowed the polygamist sect to practice its tenants unmolested for the next 50 years and turned a blind eye to child abandonment, kidnapping, statutory rape, incest, and massive tax and welfare fraud.

            But then Warren Jeffs, a new FLDS prophet, escalated the sect's crimes to near madness. Activists watched in horror as he used his limitless authority and the resources of a tax-supported community—in essence, a feudal empire on the Utah/Arizona border—to devastate thousands of lives on cruel whims, marrying girls as young as 11 to 60-year-old men and driving off teenage “lost boys” who Jeffs felt threatened his authority.

            Answer Them Nothing is the chilling story of the victims, activists, prosecutors, judges, cops, and attorneys who in 2001 began the struggle to dismantle the FLDS empire and bring Jeffs and his henchmen to justice. It is a mesmerizing journey into one of America's darkest corners, a story that stretches over three states and deep into history of the powerful Mormon Church.

Ratings and reviews

4.5
6 reviews
A Google user
August 23, 2011
What most of us know about the despicable Warren Jeffs is really only the tip of the iceberg. With all the recent flash of cable coverage, blips in the blogosphere and passing media attention, there's an even more outrageous story overlooked about a system that allowed a "Warren Jeffs" to flourish and prosper. Ms. Weyermann's well-researched book tells that story in grand style, from the first Time Magazine media whitewash of the Short Creek raid in the early fifties up to the the Eldorado incident that led to the conviction of Mr. Jeffs in Texas, after similar charges were mysteriously dismissed in Utah. This gifted writer knows her subject, knows the players, some personally, and presents it all in a book that grabs you from the first page. You'll walk away amazed that the inhumanity of Jeffs and the FLDS has gone unchecked all these years, in many cases financed with our tax dollars. If you want to know the whole story of the FLDS, this is the one book to read.
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Lesty Loo
June 15, 2013
This book is an eye opener and then some. I can't believe this happens in this day and age ..WITH the unofficial backing of many powers that be.
1 person found this review helpful
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About the author

STRONGDebra Weyermann is an award-winning journalist who has written for numerous publications, including the Arizona Daily Star, the Denver Post, Harper's, and the Santa Barbara News-Press. She lives in Navarre, Florida.

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