OBITUARIES - Newz Group · of Zarif s visit, the French official said, We operate on our own terms...
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A4 Monday, August 26, 2019 Amarillo Globe-News amarillo.com By Maria Cheng and Jamey Keaten The Associated Press GENEVA — Countries have agreed to protect more than a dozen shark species at risk of extinction, in a move aimed at conserving some of the ocean’s most awe-inspiring creatures who have themselves become prey to commer- cial fishing and the Chinese appetite for shark fin soup. Three proposals cover- ing the international trade of 18 types of mako sharks, wedgefishes and guitar- fishes each passed with a needed two-thirds majority in a committee of the World Wildlife Conference known as CITES on Sunday. “Today we are one step closer to protecting the fastest shark in the ocean, as well as the most threat- ened,” said Jen Sawada, who directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ shark conservation work. The measures don’t ban fish- ing these sharks and rays, but any trade must be sustainable. The move isn’t final but is a key sign before an offi- cial decision at its plenary this coming week. Conservationists applauded and exchanged hugs after the tallies. Opponents variously included China, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand. The U.S. voted against the mako shark measure, but supported the other two. Critics variously argued that the measures dis- tanced CITES from its initial mandate to protect endangered land animals and plants, not marine life, and insisted the sci- ence didn’t back up the call to increase protec- tions. They also noted that that millions of Mako sharks exist and even the CITES secretariat advised against the protections. But proponents coun- tered that stocks of sharks are in a deep dive, with tens of millions killed each year, and that mea- sures need to be taken now — with what they call some of the most signifi- cant rules ever adopted for trade in shark parts. Rima Jabado, a shark expert and lead scien- tist of the Gulf Elasmo project, said many of the species included in the CITES proposals are classified as “critically endangered.” Countries agree to protect sharks, rays Former Illinois congressman, radio host is making longshot challenge in GOP primary By Tom Davies The Associated Press Joe Walsh, a former Illinois congressman and tea party favorite turned radio talk show host, announced a chal- lenge Sunday to President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020, saying the incum- bent is unfit for office and must be denied a second term. “He’s nuts. He’s erratic. He’s cruel. He stokes big- otry. He’s incompetent. He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Walsh told ABC’s “This Week.” The long- shot portrayed himself as a legitimate alternative in party where he said many are opposed to Trump but are “scared to death” of saying so publicly. His campaign slogan: “Be brave.” Polls shows Trump is backed by most Republican voters, and the lone rival already in the race is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, the 2016 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee who is regarded as fiscally conservative but socially liberal. Undeterred from pressing ahead with his candidacy, Walsh said, “I think this thing ... will catch on like wildfire.” The former Trump booster added: “I’m a conserva- tive. And I think there’s a decent chance to pres- ent to Republican voters a conservative without all the baggage.” Walsh narrowly won a House seat from subur- ban Chicago in the 2010 tea party wave but lost a 2012 reelection bid and has since hosted a radio talk show. He has a history of inflammatory statements regarding Muslims and others and declared just before the 2016 election that if Trump lost, “I’m grabbing my musket.” But he has since soured on Trump, criticizing the president over growth of the federal deficit and writing in a New York Times column that the president was “a racial arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia to rouse his base.” The road ahead for any Republican primary chal- lenger will be difficult. In recent months, Trump’s allies have taken over state parties that con- trol primary elections in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and else- where. State party leaders sometimes pay lip service to the notion that they would welcome a primary chal- lenger, as their state party rules usually require, but they are already working to ensure Trump’s reelection. South Carolina Republicans have gone so far as to discuss canceling their state’s GOP primary altogether if a legitimate primary challenge emerges to eliminate the threat. At the same time, poll- ing consistently shows that Trump has the solid backing of an overwhelm- ing majority of Republican voters. Walsh to run against Trump In this Nov. 15, 2011, photo, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. [CAROLYN KASTER/ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO] By Sylvie Corbet, Lori Hinnant and Darlene Superville The Associated Press BIARRITZ, France — A top Iranian official paid an unannounced visit Sunday to the G-7 summit and headed straight to the buildings where leaders of the world’s major democ- racies have been debating how to handle the coun- try’s nuclear ambitions. France’s surprise invi- tation of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was a high- stakes gamble for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is the host of the Group of Seven gath- ering in Biarritz. Zarif’s plane left Tehran on Sunday morning and touched down a few hours later at the Biarritz airport, which has been closed since Friday to all flights unrelated to the official G-7 delegations. A senior French official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Zarif went directly into a meet- ing with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said Zarif flew to Biarritz at the invitation of the French foreign minister. Mousavi said on Twitter that there would be no meetings or negotiations with American officials during Zarif’s trip. Asked whether the White House was aware of Zarif’s visit, the French official said, “We operate on our own terms” but noted that Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump met for two hours Saturday and discussed Iran at length, as well as at the group dinner. The official described it as a Franco-Iranian meeting for the moment and said that France “is working in full transpar- ency with the U.S. and in full transparency with European partners.” The Iranian had met with Macron on Friday. Zarif, who faces U.S. sanctions, had been scheduled to go to Asia as part of a tour to seek support for Iran amid the American campaign against it since Trump withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Trump had not “set preconditions” on nego- tiations with Iran. Zarif arrived as fissures emerged among G-7 lead- ers over how to deal with Iran. Macron said the leaders agreed during a dinner the night before that the French president could serve as a G-7 messen- ger to Iran. Trump denied agreeing to anything, and Macron was forced to play down his role and acknowledge Trump’s status as “the president of the world’s number one power.” Iranian envoy gets surprise G-7 invite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, President of France Emmanuel Macron, second from right, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson take part in a working session with G7 leaders, Sunday in Biarritz, France. [SEAN KILPATRICK/THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] Guest Book: Add a message to the guest book by sending your condolences, adding photos or lighting a virtual candle. Flowers: Send sympathy flowers by ordering online or by phone. Make a charitable donation. Photo Galleries: View photos from notable figures who have passed, veterans, and loved ones. Celebrate your loved one’s life with photos from their life. Search: Search any obituary by the deceased’s name or by city and/or state. Funeral Home Directory: View details on all area funeral homes, including contact informa- tion, address, phone number, website and more. Past Obituaries: All obituaries are archived and searchable by first and last name. National Spotlight: View notable obituaries that have been highlighted in the news this year. For more information please call (806) 345-3378 or email us at [email protected]. Additional Features Online Amarillo.com/obituaries For more information please call (806) 766-8624 or email us at [email protected] Services Today Angela Elizabeth Van Bakel, 87, of Amarillo died Aug. 23, 2019. Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church Chapel, 4100 S. Coulter St. Schooler Funeral Home, Amarillo. Services Scheduled Charlotte Anderson, 83, of Amarillo died Aug. 24, 2019. A celebration of life will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, at Paramount Baptist Church. Cox-Rowley Funeral Home. Beverly Joyce Groninger, 72, of Amarillo died Aug. 24, 2019. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, at Boxwell Brothers Ivy Chapel, 2800 Paramount Blvd. Burial will be at Llano Cemetery. Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors, Amarillo. Services Pending Nelson A Berry, 73, of Amarillo died Aug. 25, 2019. Schooler Funeral Home, Amarillo. Phyllis Lee Molnar, 85, of Amarillo died Aug. 25, 2019. Schooler Funeral Home. AMARILLO GLOBE - NEWS Reta Kay (Hunt) Gumper of Amarillo died August 22, 2019. Graveside service will be held 1 pm Tuesday Aug. 27 at Hillcrest Cemetery in Mclean TX. The Family will receive friends, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019 from 6pm- 7:30pm. Arrangements are by Rector Funeral Home Osage Chapel, 2800 S. Osage. Reta was born July 11, 1944 to Perry and Florence Hunt in VanPort OR. She graduated from Palo Duro High School in 1964. She worked for 35 years at the Tascosa Country Club. She was a spunky woman. All the neighborhood children loved her. She always spoiled them. She had a big heart for children. Reta spent many years teaching Sunday school classes at the Salvation Army church. Reta was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Eddie Hunt; one niece, Camala Hunt-Smith; and all of her aunts and uncles. She is survived by her brother, Cal and his wife Shirley Benton Hunt; one nephew, Steven Hunt; and a niece, Christie Hunt. 1944-2019 Reta Kay (Hunt) Gumper Amarillo Globe-News, August 26, 2019 Reta Kay Gumper By Andrew DeMillo The Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Long before a mass shooting killed 22 people at a Walmart in Texas, the threat of white supremacy was well known in neighboring Arkansas, where extremist groups over the decades have made their home in the mountains and dense woods of the state’s remote rural areas. In the 1980s, a group known as the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord grew to more than 100 members before federal authorities raided its com- pound in the Ozarks. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and a “Christian identity” group that pro- motes racism have made their headquarters in the state. Just last February, prosecutors in Little Rock unsealed indictments against 54 members of the New Aryan Empire, a white supremacist group that began as a prison gang. Nonetheless, Arkansas is one of only four states with- out a specific hate crimes law, declining over the years to follow the national legal trend for combatting ethnic violence as it dealt with other priorities it con- sidered more pressing. Now that reticence is giving way, one of the political tremors being felt across the nation after recent attacks. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who as a federal prosecutor wore a bulletproof vest to negoti- ate the end of the siege with the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord, has called on lawmakers to approve harsher penalties for crimes targeting people because of their race, eth- nicity or religion. “We have seen a resur- gence of white supremacy dialogue, of conversation, and I know enough from the ‘80s that when you have that conversation and increased dialogue some people are going to take it to the extreme and act on it,” Hutchinson recently told reporters. Pressure for new legis- lation is also mounting in Georgia and South Carolina, two other states without hate crimes laws. Wyoming is the other holdout, while a measure enacted in Indiana in April falls short of the standard recognized by the Anti-Defamation League. The threat posed by hate groups, white supremacists and militias has been high- lighted by two recent mass shootings labeled as domes- tic terrorism by federal authorities. The suspected gunman in the El Paso attack, 21-year- old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, is believed to have posted an anti-immigrant screed online shortly before opening fire in the Walmart, targeting Hispanic shop- pers. Santino William Legan, the gunman who killed three people at a food festival in California, had compiled a “target list” that included religious groups. Arkansas hasn’t expe- rienced any similar mass shootings recently, but few states are more familiar with the threat from white supremacy. Such groups have long flourished in the Ozark Mountain region near the Missouri border where towns are small and scat- tered far apart and the population is overwhelm- ingly white. The largest town, Harrison, population 13,000, was the site of riots in the early 1900s that drove out most of its black popu- lation. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, one of sev- eral Klan factions, and the white supremacist Kingdom Identity Ministries are based in the Harrison area. The Klan uses a Harrison post office box for its mailing address, while its national director lives a short drive outside town. In recent years, billboards occasionally have appeared with white supremacist messages such as, “Anti- racist is a code word for anti-white,” or promoting a white pride website. “Once they get a toe- hold people follow them in there,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, refer- ring to the remote, wooded area. The group tracked 14 hate groups in Arkansas last year. Arkansas, home to supremacist groups, weighs hate crimes law In this Oct. 16, 2013, photo, motorists drive past a newly installed billboard near the intersection of Arkmo Road and Vine Road in Harrison, Ark. [SAMANTHA BAKER/THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] OBITUARIES
Transcript of OBITUARIES - Newz Group · of Zarif s visit, the French official said, We operate on our own terms...
A4 Monday, August 26, 2019 Amarillo Globe-News amarillo.com
By Maria Cheng and Jamey KeatenThe Associated Press
GENEVA — Countries have agreed to protect more than a dozen shark species at risk of extinction, in a move aimed at conserving some of the ocean’s most awe-inspiring creatures who have themselves become prey to commer-cial fishing and the Chinese appetite for shark fin soup.
Three proposals cover-ing the international trade of 18 types of mako sharks, wedgefishes and guitar-fishes each passed with a needed two-thirds majority in a committee of the World Wildlife Conference known as CITES on Sunday.
“Today we are one step closer to protecting the fastest shark in the ocean, as well as the most threat-ened,” said Jen Sawada, who directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ shark conservation work. The measures don’t ban fish-ing these sharks and rays, but any trade must be sustainable.
The move isn’t final but is a key sign before an offi-cial decision at its plenary this coming week.
Conservationists
applauded and exchanged hugs after the tallies. Opponents variously included China, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand. The U.S. voted against the mako shark measure, but supported the other two.
Critics variously argued that the measures dis-tanced CITES from its initial mandate to protect endangered land animals and plants, not marine life, and insisted the sci-ence didn’t back up the call to increase protec-tions. They also noted that that millions of Mako sharks exist and even the CITES secretariat advised against the protections.
But proponents coun-tered that stocks of sharks are in a deep dive, with tens of millions killed each year, and that mea-sures need to be taken now — with what they call some of the most signifi-cant rules ever adopted for trade in shark parts.
Rima Jabado, a shark expert and lead scien-tist of the Gulf Elasmo project, said many of the species included in the CITES proposals are classified as “critically endangered.”
Countries agree to protect sharks, rays
Former Illinois congressman, radio host is making longshot challenge in GOP primary
By Tom DaviesThe Associated Press
Joe Walsh, a former Il l inois congressman and tea party favorite turned radio talk show host, announced a chal-lenge Sunday to President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020, saying the incum-bent is unfit for office and must be denied a second term.
“He’s nuts. He’s erratic. He’s cruel. He stokes big-otry. He’s incompetent. He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Walsh told ABC’s “This Week.” The long-shot portrayed himself as a legitimate alternative in party where he said many are opposed to Trump but are “scared to death” of saying so publicly.
His campaign slogan: “Be brave.”
Polls shows Trump is backed by most Republican
voters, and the lone rival already in the race is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, the 2016 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee who is regarded as fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
U n d e t e r r e d f r o m pressing ahead with his candidacy, Walsh said, “I think this thing ... will catch on like wildfire.” The former Trump booster added: “I’m a conserva-tive. And I think there’s a decent chance to pres-ent to Republican voters
a conservative without all the baggage.”
Walsh narrowly won a House seat from subur-ban Chicago in the 2010 tea party wave but lost a 2012 reelection bid and has since hosted a radio talk show. He has a history of inflammatory statements regarding Muslims and others and declared just before the 2016 election that if Trump lost, “I’m grabbing my musket.”
But he has since soured on Trump, criticizing the president over growth
of the federal deficit and writing in a New York Times column that the president was “a racial arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia to rouse his base.”
The road ahead for any Republican primary chal-lenger will be difficult.
I n r e c e n t m o n t h s , Trump’s allies have taken over state parties that con-trol primary elections in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and else-where. State party leaders sometimes pay lip service to the notion that they would welcome a primary chal-lenger, as their state party rules usually require, but they are already working to ensure Trump’s reelection.
S o u t h C a r o l i n a Republicans have gone so far as to discuss canceling their state’s GOP primary altogether if a legitimate primary challenge emerges to eliminate the threat.
At the same time, poll-ing consistently shows that Trump has the solid backing of an overwhelm-ing majority of Republican voters.
Walsh to run against Trump
In this Nov. 15, 2011, photo, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. [CAROLYN KASTER/ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO]
By Sylvie Corbet, Lori Hinnant and Darlene SupervilleThe Associated Press
BIARRITZ, France — A top Iranian official paid an unannounced visit Sunday to the G-7 summit and headed straight to the buildings where leaders of the world’s major democ-racies have been debating how to handle the coun-try’s nuclear ambitions.
France’s surprise invi-tation of Iranian Foreign M i n i s t e r M o h a m m a d Javad Zarif was a high-stakes gamble for French P r e s i d e n t E m m a n u e l Macron, who is the host of the Group of Seven gath-ering in Biarritz.
Zarif’s plane left Tehran on Sunday morning and touc he d down a fe w hours later at the Biarritz airport, which has been closed since Friday to all flights unrelated to the official G-7 delegations.
A senior French official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Zarif
went directly into a meet-ing with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said Zarif flew to Biarritz at the invitation of the French foreign minister. Mousavi said on Twitter that there would be no meetings or negotiations with American officials during Zarif’s trip.
A s k e d w h e t h e r t h e
White House was aware of Zarif’s visit, the French official said, “We operate on our own terms” but noted that Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump met for two hours Saturday and discussed Iran at length, as well as at the group dinner.
The official described it as a Franco-Iranian meeting for the moment and said that France “is working in full transpar-ency with the U.S. and
in full transparency with European partners.” The Iranian had met with Macron on Friday.
Zarif, who faces U.S. s a n c t i o n s , h a d b e e n scheduled to go to Asia as part of a tour to seek support for Iran amid the American campaign against it since Trump withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal.
U.S. Treasury Secretary S t e v e M n u c h i n s a i d T r u m p h a d n o t “ s e t preconditions” on nego-tiations with Iran.
Zarif arrived as fissures emerged among G-7 lead-ers over how to deal with Iran.
Macron said the leaders agreed during a dinner the night before that the French president could serve as a G-7 messen-ger to Iran. Trump denied agreeing to anything, and Macron was forced to play down his role and acknowledge Trump’s status as “the president of the world’s number one power.”
Iranian envoy gets surprise G-7 invite
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, President of France Emmanuel Macron, second from right, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson take part in a working session with G7 leaders, Sunday in Biarritz, France. [SEAN KILPATRICK/THE
CANADIAN PRESS VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]
Guest Book: Add a message to the guest book by sending your condolences, adding photos or lighting a virtual candle.
Flowers: Send sympathy flowers by ordering online or by phone. Make a charitable donation.
Photo Galleries: View photos from notable figures who have passed, veterans, and loved ones. Celebrate your loved one’s life with photos from their life.
Search: Search any obituary by the deceased’s name or by city and/or state.
Funeral Home Directory: View details on all area funeral homes, including contact informa-tion, address, phone number, website and more.
Past Obituaries: All obituaries are archived and searchable by first and last name.
National Spotlight: View notable obituaries that have been highlighted in the news this year.
For more information please call (806) 345-3378 or email us at [email protected].
Additional Features Online
Amarillo.com/obituaries
For more information please call (806) 766-8624 or email us at [email protected]
Services TodayAngela Elizabeth Van Bakel, 87, of Amarillo died Aug. 23,
2019. Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church Chapel, 4100 S. Coulter St. Schooler Funeral Home, Amarillo.
Services ScheduledCharlotte Anderson, 83, of Amarillo died Aug. 24, 2019. A
celebration of life will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, at Paramount Baptist Church. Cox-Rowley Funeral Home.
Beverly Joyce Groninger, 72, of Amarillo died Aug. 24, 2019. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, at Boxwell Brothers Ivy Chapel, 2800 Paramount Blvd. Burial will be at Llano Cemetery. Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors, Amarillo.
Services PendingNelson A Berry, 73, of Amarillo died Aug. 25, 2019. Schooler
Funeral Home, Amarillo.Phyllis Lee Molnar, 85, of Amarillo died Aug. 25, 2019.
Schooler Funeral Home.
AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS
Reta Kay (Hunt) Gumper of Amarillo died August 22, 2019. Graveside service will be held 1 pm Tuesday Aug. 27 at Hillcrest Cemetery in Mclean TX. The Family will receive friends, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019 from 6pm-7:30pm. Arrangements are by Rector Funeral Home Osage Chapel, 2800 S. Osage.
Reta was born July 11, 1944 to Perry and Florence Hunt in VanPort OR. She graduated from Palo Duro High School in 1964. She worked for 35 years at the Tascosa Country Club. She was a spunky woman. All the neighborhood children loved her. She always spoiled them. She had a big heart for children. Reta spent many years teaching Sunday school classes at the Salvation Army church.
Reta was preceded in
death by her parents, her brother, Eddie Hunt; one niece, Camala Hunt-Smith; and all of her aunts and uncles.
She is survived by her brother, Cal and his wife Shirley Benton Hunt; one nephew, Steven Hunt; and a niece, Christie Hunt.
1944-2019
Reta Kay (Hunt) Gumper
Amarillo Globe-News, August 26, 2019
Reta Kay Gumper
By Andrew DeMilloThe Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Long before a mass shooting killed 22 people at a Walmart in Texas, the threat of white supremacy was well known in neighboring Arkansas, where extremist groups over the decades have made their home in the mountains and dense woods of the state’s remote rural areas.
In the 1980s, a group known as the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord grew to more than 100 members before federal authorities raided its com-pound in the Ozarks.
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and a “Christian identity” group that pro-motes racism have made their headquarters in the state. Just last February, prosecutors in Little Rock unsealed indictments against 54 members of the New Aryan Empire, a white supremacist group that began as a prison gang.
Nonetheless, Arkansas is one of only four states with-out a specific hate crimes law, declining over the years to follow the national legal trend for combatting ethnic violence as it dealt with other priorities it con-sidered more pressing.
Now that reticence is giving way, one of the political tremors being felt across the nation after recent attacks. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who as a federal prosecutor wore a bulletproof vest to negoti-ate the end of the siege with the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord, has called on lawmakers to approve harsher penalties for crimes targeting people because of their race, eth-nicity or religion.
“We have seen a resur-gence of white supremacy dialogue, of conversation, and I know enough from the ‘80s that when you have that conversation and increased dialogue some people are going to take it to the extreme and act on it,” Hutchinson recently told reporters.
Pressure for new legis-lation is also mounting in Georgia and South Carolina, two other states without hate crimes laws. Wyoming is the other holdout, while a measure enacted in Indiana in April falls short of the standard recognized by the Anti-Defamation League.
The threat posed by hate groups, white supremacists and militias has been high-lighted by two recent mass shootings labeled as domes-tic terrorism by federal
authorities.The suspected gunman in
the El Paso attack, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, is believed to have posted an anti-immigrant screed online shortly before opening fire in the Walmart, targeting Hispanic shop-pers. Santino William Legan, the gunman who killed three people at a food festival in California, had compiled a “target list” that included religious groups.
Arkansas hasn’t expe-rienced any similar mass shootings recently, but few states are more familiar with the threat from white supremacy.
Such groups have long flourished in the Ozark Mountain region near the Missouri border where towns are small and scat-tered far apart and the population is overwhelm-ingly white.
T h e l a r g e s t t o w n , Harrison, population
13,000, was the site of riots in the early 1900s that drove out most of its black popu-lation. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, one of sev-eral Klan factions, and the white supremacist Kingdom Identity Ministries are based in the Harrison area. The Klan uses a Harrison post office box for its mailing address, while its national director lives a short drive outside town.
In recent years, billboards occasionally have appeared with white supremacist messages such as, “Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white,” or promoting a white pride website.
“Once they get a toe-hold people follow them in there,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, refer-ring to the remote, wooded area. The group tracked 14 hate groups in Arkansas last year.
Arkansas, home to supremacist groups, weighs hate crimes law
In this Oct. 16, 2013, photo, motorists drive past a newly installed billboard near the intersection of Arkmo Road and Vine Road in Harrison, Ark. [SAMANTHA BAKER/THE ARKANSAS
DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]
OBITUARIES
