/' .
J .... ry 14-20J990 MICHIGAN CITIZEN Pap 3
AACP Director:
g group more hateful than
'Born
�_.,,- A. l1li ... ., Sr.
SpedIIl to NNPA
W ASHINGTON,DC- NAACP
Executive Director Benjamin
L. Hoo maintaining a
ICYel he ded cool,
This, despite the recent r
of package bombings that killed
a Birmingham, Ala. federal cir-.
cuit judge, and a B ck S van­
nab, GA. AACP lawyer/city
councilman, and the scare that
engendered by the inter­
ceptiOn d disarmiDg of two .
other bombs, ODe in Atlanta, the
other in the J WIe, PIa.,
NAACPo�.
B Hoo . concerned and
revealed that a result of these
lat crimiDal a HOT­
LI E: 1-800- AACP-SS is
being installed on 24-hour
b . for persons who may have
imformation that could lead to
the arrest and conviction of the
criminals
. The NAACP official al 0 .
told NNP A that the
organj7Jltion's branches nation­
wide bad been alerted to be OD
guard against package mail
bombs. .
After huddling in a closed
door, two hour session with the
FBI at NAACP Baltimore
headquarters, Hooks told the
NNP A: -rbcse bombings are
serio but I get threats leas
two or three time a eek.
Callers muttering 'you SOB,'
'Jew-loYiDg so-and-so', and let­
ters drippiDg with hate. I just
don't read most of them, espe­
cially if they arrive without a sig­
nature,"
GO hope to benefit
from n d.i tricts
8yJIM rc ORO
Capital News Service
• LANSI G� - All things being
equal, Republican tate Chair­
man pencer Abraham would
, like all things to be equal.
1990 will bring with it a new
census of Michigan, and that
means redrawing legislative dis­
tricts on both the federal and
state level.
Abraham would like to sec
the new districts more accurate­
ly reflect Michigan' political
preferences.
"In previous state elections, .
Republicans received 50 per­
cent of the vote," Abraham said.
"We did not receive 50 per-
cent of th eats." Abraham ad­
mitted tha whoever is in power
ill try to gerrymander the dis­
trict to their party's advantage.
Gerrymandering i political
rt of redrawing legi lativ dis­
trict to the dvantage of the
party in pm cr. It goe back to
1 12 when 3. sachu ells G v.
, -
Elbridge Gerry remarked hen
told that the new districts
I .d like a alamundcr, 0,
th yare gerrymander:"
Coca growers
otter :
al ernative
Peruvian c ca gr w r ay
they will stop selling thier crops
to . e producer if th U. .
and other countri Will allow
them to sell coca-based wine,
perfume and other products �-
cL
"Often, the majority party's
plan gets overthrown in court,"
Abraham said. "I think having
the court become involved in
deciding districts, is a poor way ,
to do things."
Abraham said he would like
to see communities stay
together as much as possible.
"Lansing is in two federal
congressional distr icts,"
Abr ham said "Some people
say that is good for Lansing. be­
cause they have two repre­
sentative , but "I have to
disagree. With most of the 6th
District in Pontiac and most of
the 3rd District in Kalamazoo,
iho-congressmen who represent
those district spend most of
their time there. Lansing loses
out."
"In the past, there has been
plenty of blame to go around,"
aid Rep. Nick Ciaramitaro, D­
Roseville. Ciaramitaro, a mem­
ber of the Elections
Committee, also hopes the
Legislature and the governor
will be able to come up with a
plan that will stay out of court.
"I hope we can meet our
responsibilities," Ciaramitaro
said. "In the past, ve've been un­
able to come up with a plan that
meet the one-man-one-vote
criteria, and accurately reflects
re I party lines."
Ciaramitaro said that there
hay b en plan in the p t that
met these criteria, but getting
both parties to agree on them is
difficult.
Ciaramitaro said, "Both par-
ties are going to try to gain an
advantage, but the census hasn't
been taken yet, so let's not start
criticizin before we C\'en see •
I •
. He added that this recent
murderous activity refutes
critics who decry the
organization's effectiveness in
civil rights wor "Our enemies
certainly knowwbo the the chief
opponent is," he said.
The NAACP official said he
did not believe the Klan is
responsible for the mail bombs.
"I think it is a much smaller,
much more virulent and malig­
nant • e upremacist group.
But what gets me is the kind of
mentality these people possess
that makes them think they can
get aWay with killing a federal
judge,"
Federal Judge Robert S.
Vance, of the 11th u.s. Circuit
Court of Appeals, died at his
suburban Birmingham; AL,
home after opening a package
containing a bomb. Robert E.
Robinson, Black Savannah
lawyer and city councilman, was
fatally injured when he opened
a similar p cbge.
A third bomb was inter­
cepted in the mailroom of the
11th Circuit's headquarters in
Atlanta. A fourth bomb pack­
age was discovered in Jackson­
ville, PI. addres ed to the
NAACP's legal counsel", ac­
cording to the Jacksonville
riff office.
The sheriffs office said Wil­
lye Dennis, President of the
Jacksonville NAACP branch,
received the p ckage earlier but
because late for a meet­
ing. she put it in her d drawer
unopened, this perhaps saving
her life. For by the time she
returned, news of Robinson's
death by a similar bomb had
been announced, and Dennis
called police to investigate.
,
FBI sources said the bombs
seemed to be linked, bearing
similar wrappings, stamps, and
return addresses of persons
who were later cleared of any
involvement.
. FBI Director WDliam Ses-
sion and Justice officials seem
to lean toward the Klan as the
criminal culprit behind the
package bomb murders.
Like Hoo however, they
point out that the criminal a�­
tivity involving the bombs 15
centered in three state ,
Alabama, Florida and Georgia;
• comprising the 11th Circuit
j udicial area.
They cite the rulings of
several judges in civil rights
cases, including Judge Vance's
that went agains the Klan and
the fact that Robinson par­
ticipated in school de grega­
tion case (although he lost),
indicating a possible Klan
# revenge motivation.
Sessions, in a Washington,
DC news conference told
reporters: "When there are
federal judges involved who
have heard these cases which
involve r cial- matter; nd
when NAACP he dquarter
receive a package bomb and
when you have D alderman
who is killed, you have to have
that (racial motivation) in the
back of your mind. .
In Montgomery, AL, Pat
Clark, director of the Southern
Poverty Law Center's outstand­
ing Klanswatch Project, told
NNP A that her organization
was non-plussed concerning th
identity of the mail package
bomb murderers.
Appearing to agree With
Hooks that the perpetrators
may not be the Klan, she . d:"
they seem to be r cially
motivated but w haven't been
able to pinpoint them. It's no
doubt a white upremacy group,
but the e eem 0 well or­
ganiz d, their actions ell
thought and implemented.
Before the r cists al ys
been . ept in implementing
criminal processes. somepl ce
along the Iilne, some informant
has let the police know what was
about to happen. There was al­
ways a loose lip. But this seems
to be a tightly held, well
thought -out activity by this
secret group, with no apparent
inside police informants." ,
Klanwatcb won a $7 million
judgement in the March 21,
1981, lynch murder of 19 year
old Michael Donald in Mobile
Ala. The verdict was against the
White Knight of the KKK, and
the Invisible Empire, including
11 defendan , after the Klan at­
tacked a civil rights Brother­
hood March, Jan., 1987, in .
Forsyth County Ga. .
Althea T .L. Simmons, the
NAACP's ble Washington
Bureau chief, reminded NNP A
th t the AACP's Southeast
Regional Office in Atlanta had
been a target of a g bomb ear­
lier this year. In early Frhruary,
the downtown office building in
hich the W shington, DC.
NAACP bureau is located,
received a bomb threat forcing
tenants to ev cuate the build­
in& she revealed. Also earli r
thi year, bullet rued at the
AACP's m in headquarters
in Baltimore shattered some
windows. N(} injuries, however,
were reported.