RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The man accused of shooting a Nation of Islam minister and five of his bodyguards last weekend is no stranger to the law.
James Bess, a former member of the Nation of Islam, has a history of legal encounters that go back to 1964:
-- That year, he and a brother, Henry, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Caruthersville, Mo. They were paroled the same day, the Fresno Bee reported at the time.
-- In 1965, an all-white jury convicted the pair of felony assault on a man who refused to buy a Muslim newspaper.
-- In 1975, Bess was acquitted in Fresno of fatally shooting his brother, Elvin O. Bess Jr. Bess claimed self defense.
Until the shooting, Bess was best known for Seattle cable TV shows extolling Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
"There are a lot of witnesses" and more than one videotape of the shooting that followed a University of California, Riverside, speech by Khallid Abdul Muhammad, says Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Bill Mitchell.
Bess - who was beaten by Muhammad followers and suffered a broken shoulder, broken teeth and head injuries - was arraigned Tuesday afternoon and then returned to a hospital jail ward.
If found guilty, Bess, 49, faces life in prison for attempted murder and up to nine years for each of five counts of assault with a firearm.
The arrest doesn't surprise Seattle Muslim Syid Suni Askia. "He had an intoxicating love for Farrakhan," says Askia, not a Nation of Islam member.
Farrakhan suspended Muhammad following a November speech in which he called Jews "bloodsuckers."
The shooting clearly points to splits in the Nation of Islam movement, says University of Southern California political science professor Richard Dekmejian. While Muhammad's message has been growing more militantly anti-Jew and anti-white, Farrakhan has been softening his rhetoric.
Significantly, Farrakhan has been publicly silent on the attack. A woman who answered the phone at the group's Chicago headquarters said no one would answer questions.
"Not condemning it increases suspicion," Dekmejian says. "But if Farrakhan does condemn it, the price of bridging the gap is that Farrakhan has to preach a more militant message" and risk losing any respect he's gained from mainstream leaders.
Even if Farrakhan condemns the attack without supporting Muhammad's positions, he risks losing supporters who don't want him to show any support for Muhammad, Dekmejian says.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, expects Muhammad to capitalize on his shooting.
"He can take on the mantle of martyrdom," Hier says. "He's not just the former aide to Louis Farrakhan anymore."
