census worker hanged with "fed" written on body (with an unspecified instrument)

[Bob]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090923/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_census_worker_hanged


AP source: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body


WASHINGTON – A U.S. Census worker found hanging from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment.

The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word on the chest of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher. He was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky.

The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a slaying or a suicide, and if a slaying, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment. An autopsy report is pending.

Investigators have said little about the case. FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is assisting state police.

"Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's part of the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whether that is related to his employment as a census worker," said Beyer.

Beyer declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene.

Lucindia Scurry-Johnson, assistant director of the Census Bureau's southern office in Charlotte, N.C., said law enforcement officers have told the agency the matter is "an apparent homicide" but nothing else.

Census employees were told Sparkman's truck was found nearby, and a computer he was using for work was found inside it, she said. He worked part-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice a month.

Sparkman has worked for the Census since 2003, spanning five counties in the surrounding area. Much of his recent work had been in Clay County, officials said.

Door-to-door operations have been suspended in Clay County pending a resolution of the investigation, Scurry-Johnson said.

The Census Bureau is overseen by the Commerce Department.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our co-worker," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with William Sparkman's son, other family and friends."

Locke called him "a shining example of the hardworking men and women employed by the Census Bureau."

The most deadly attack on federal workers came in 1995 when the federal building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring more than 680. Tim McVeigh, who was executed for the bombing, carried literature by modern, ultra-right-wing anti-government authors.

A private group called PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, tracks violence against employees who enforce environmental regulations, but the group's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said it's hard to know about all of the cases because some agencies don't share data on instances of violence against employees.

Ruch said that after the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, "we kept getting reports from employees that attacks and intimidation against federal employees had not diminished, and that's why we've been tracking them."

"Even as illustrated in town hall meetings today, there is a distinct hostility in a large segment of the population toward people who work for their government," Ruch said.



i don't care how whacked out and anti-government you are, what on earth does this do?

[kaiser soze]

The same thing as bombing a federal building, killing an abortion doctor, sending Anthrax to political and media opponents, carrying assault weapons out in the open, or beating a person of a different ethnicity in a public place (http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/felony-charges-for-cracker-144818.html).

It is proof people are insane and are willing to intimidate, attack, or kill for their agenda

The warning of the rise of right wing extremism wasn't too far from the mark

[Dorothy Wood]

interesting that it happened on 9/12. coincidence? maybe.

[b i o n i c]

hmmmm

[funk63]

lol holy shit, I canvassed for the census like two months ago.

[Whatitis]

The same thing as bombing a federal building, killing an abortion doctor, sending Anthrax to political and media opponents, carrying assault weapons out in the open, or beating a person of a different ethnicity in a public place (http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/felony-charges-for-cracker-144818.html).

It is proof people are insane and are willing to intimidate, attack, or kill for their agenda

The warning of the rise of right wing extremism wasn't too far from the mark

So quick to tie it to the right wing, and you might be right but maybe this piece of shit that did this is left wing extemist or even a libertarian as Mr. McVeigh claimed to be.

[kaiser soze]

whether I am right or wrong, this murder is a sign that people are willing to kill someone as innocuous as a part-time census worker to prove a political a point

There has been much fear mongering from the right to push someone to kill, so I do blame the right wing at this time for this.

Have you seen this footage of beck and bachman talking about the census (ACORN cited by beck?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZS9UW0okY4&feature=player_embedded

[travesty]

All complete speculation......

Maybe the dude walked in on a drug deal or just saw something he wasn't supposed to see.

Maybe he was killed by a dislexic who was trying to frame some dude named Fred.

Maybe he killed himself and the authorities didn't see the "UP" written on his back.

Who knows, but whatever it was I guess just blame the right. Then you won't have to actually worry about the truth.

[kaiser soze]

I doubt drug manufactures and dealers would draw attention to themselves - that would mean they would have to destroy their meth labs or dig up their crops.

I know it is hard for you to see that this was a lynching and a threat to the government, by your response it appears you can give two shits that someone was murdered.

[valvano]

this area of kentucky is of extreme poverty , meth labs, and marijuana farms...

before you quickly say this was the work of a bunch or "right wingers" think back to the recent case of the Denver DNC vandalism case who also were quick to accuse "right wingers" just to find out it the work of an Dem volunteer worker...:rolleyes:

[DroppinScience]

It's difficult at this point to see it as being anyone else BUT the right-wing. Remember, it is the right who perpetrate conspiracy theories regarding the census. Seems logical to put two and two together. Unless more facts emerge that disproves right-wing nutjobs, this has the mark of the extreme right.

[travesty]

It's difficult at this point to see it as being anyone else BUT the right-wing. Remember, it is the right who perpetrate conspiracy theories regarding the census. Seems logical to put two and two together. Unless more facts emerge that disproves right-wing nutjobs, this has the mark of the extreme right.

That's because the right wing are the first people you accuse of anything you don't like. In your world it is difficult to see that there are alternative boogey men, including your like minded cohorts and I know it's hard, but try and keep an open mind on shit like this. Some dude died fer chrissake and you are already pinning it people who disagree with you politically.

Shouldn't we wait for the facts Mr. President?
No?
You're going to say the police acted "stupidly"?
Sure you don't want to wait and get some clarification first?
OK...you're the boss!

[DroppinScience]

That's because the right wing are the first people you accuse of anything you don't like. In your world it is difficult to see that there are alternative boogey men, including your like minded cohorts and I know it's hard, but try and keep an open mind on shit like this. Some dude died fer chrissake and you are already pinning it people who disagree with you politically.

Shouldn't we wait for the facts Mr. President?
No?
You're going to say the police acted "stupidly"?
Sure you don't want to wait and get some clarification first?
OK...you're the boss!

It fits the pattern of right-wing hatred and violence that has been emerging in the last year or so. Look no further than the Knoxville church shooting, the killing of Dr. Tiller, the shooting of a security guard in the Holocaust Museum, and so on. Killing a census worker and writing "fed" on his body meant that some anti-government nutjob killed him because he embodied the U.S. government that he hates and this particular unfortunate fellow was the closest access he had to act out. If more facts emerge that contradict my suspicions, I'll hear them out. For now, I'm calling it as I see it.

And no, the left is not exempt from this hatred and violence. A week or so ago an anti-abortion activist was murdered, so the other side is capable of this too. We just have not seen very much of this from the left these days.

[saz]

So quick to tie it to the right wing, and you might be right but maybe this piece of shit that did this is left wing extemist or even a libertarian as Mr. McVeigh claimed to be.

yeah, progressives, lefties and socialists are well known to stack up on guns, threaten violence and death, bomb abortion clinics, murder abortion doctors, bomb federal buildings and offices, and threaten violence and murder against civil servants and other federal employees. and a libertarian is still a conservative.


the southern poverty law center: terror from the right - 75 plots, conspiracies and racist rampages since oklahoma city (http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=383)

[travesty]

and a libertarian is still a conservative.


I like to think a Libertarian IS conservative and Republicans are STILL conservatives (though just barely).

[saz]

i'd say the majority of democrats are old school republican conservatives (ie think eisenhower/nixon centrism), and today's republicans are straight out of a mental hospital.

[QueenAdrock]

It's true...anywhere else in the world, being a Democrat means being "conservative" and being a Republican is...well, unfathomable to many. I'm still baffled how the rest of the western world took a big step to the left (think: free health care, no death penalty, strong gun control) and the U.S. never followed suit.

[travesty]

It's true...anywhere else in the world, being a Democrat means being "conservative" and being a Republican is...well, unfathomable to many. I'm still baffled how the rest of the western world took a big step to the left (think: free health care, no death penalty, strong gun control) and the U.S. never followed suit.

Because we left the rest of the Western World many centuries ago so we wouldn't have to live like them. Your ancestors would roll over in their graves if they heard you saying "why can't we be more like England"? A lot of people died so we wouldn't have to.

[yeahwho]

i'd say the majority of democrats are old school republican conservatives (ie think eisenhower/nixon centrism), and today's republicans are straight out of a mental hospital.

That is a very astute observation, actually they make the Nixon/Eisenhower centrism look leftist. These democrats have done nothing but look out for corporate interest since regaining the majority.

[Schmeltz]

I'm still baffled how the rest of the western world took a big step to the left (think: free health care, no death penalty, strong gun control) and the U.S. never followed suit.

Well it's got nothing to do with the Revolutionary War, first of all. Those developments came about in large measure in the post-Second World War era, when there was a massive shift in the cultural interests of the European West - a shift away from the militant nationalism that had proven so fruitless and destructive and toward a more integrated and socially progressive society. Canada and Japan jumped on the bandwagon too. But in America the rise of the military-industrial complex preserved many of the worst things about the old order, and heightened them to a fever pitch during the Cold War. You've lived in Canada, can you even imagine such a thing as a Parliamentary Committee on Un-Canadian Activities?

The western world made those cultural choices because their rejection (or at least partial rejection) of the past patterns of military dominance, strong-arm politics, and vicious social classism left them free to do so. America's preservation of those things means that its people continue to suffer the consequences of choosing a society that values money over human life. In some circles that's called "freedom," but it's certainly not the kind of freedom I would ever choose to live under.

[travesty]

In some circles that's called "freedom," but it's certainly not the kind of freedom I would ever choose to live under.

It's got it's problems but we like it just fine :D

[Schmeltz]

Only because you don't know any better.

[travesty]

Only because you don't know any better.

Or do we and we're just not letting you in on it?

[Schmeltz]

Or your leaders do but they're just not letting you in on it.

[Bob]

It's got it's problems but we like it just fine :D

that depends on what you mean by "we" i guess

[travesty]

that depends on what you mean by "we" i guess

Well, some of us still like America regardless of the current problems.

[travesty]

Or your leaders do but they're just not letting you in on it.

Or our leaders do and they're just not letting your leaders in on it. Then again why would they?

[Bob]

Well, some of us still like America regardless of the current problems.

hey now, i hope you're not playing the "why do you hate america" card on me, i have a higher opinion of you than that

[travesty]

hey now, i hope you're not playing the "why do you hate america" card on me, i have a higher opinion of you than that

Not at all. I haven't seen anything here that would make me think you hate America.

[Schmeltz]

Or our leaders do and they're just not letting your leaders in on it. Then again why would they?

Especially since we would never, ever ask them to? If our leadership is keeping the secret of American culture from us, then they're doing great work.

[Whatitis]

Fear mongers! (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091124/ap_on_re_us/us_census_worker_hanged)

[RobMoney$]

Looks like valvano got the last laugh on this one. (y)

[Whatitis]

I guess you can say the guy was just "fed" up with life.