The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Politics & RKBA => Topic started by: 504Devil on September 25, 2009, 03:51:15 PM
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BIG CREEK, Ky. – A census worker found hanged from a tree with the word "fed" scrawled on his chest met his end in a corner of Appalachia with an abundance of meth labs and marijuana fields — and a reputation for mistrusting government that dates back to the days of moonshiners and "revenuers."
But the investigation has yet to determine whether the death of the 51-year-old part-time schoolteacher represents real anti-government sentiment. At this point, police cannot say whether Bill Sparkman's death was a homicide, an accident or even a suicide.
"We are not downplaying the significance of his position with the U.S. Census bureau," said Capt. Lisa Rudzinski, commander of the Kentucky State Police post in London. "We can assure the public we are looking at every possible aspect of Mr. Sparkman's death."
But locals are already bracing for suggestions that the killing was the result of anti-government sentiment in the mountains. It does not help that the death occurred in impoverished Clay County, one of the poorest in the country with an unemployment rate of 14.5 percent and an overall poverty rate more than three times the national average.
Sparkman, a Boy Scout leader and substitute teacher who was supplementing his income as a part-time census field worker, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Police said Thursday that the preliminary cause of death was asphyxiation. Authorities said Sparkman, who a friend said had been treated for cancer, was found with a rope around his neck that was tied to a tree, but that he was "in contact with the ground."
The word "fed" had been scrawled on his chest, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the case.
Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies in nearby Whitesburg, said the federal government has done "precious little" in Clay County other than building a federal prison in Manchester in the 1990s. But he is not aware of any deep-seated hatred of the government.
"Government is not seen as the enemy, except for people who might fear getting caught for what they're doing," he said.
Army retiree George Robinson did door-to-door census work in Clay County in 2000. No one ever threatened him, but some people questioned why the government needed to know some of the information, especially income, requested on the census form.
"You meet some strange people," he said. "Nothing is a surprise in Clay County."
Appalachia — particularly eastern Kentucky — has long had an image of being wary of and sometimes hostile toward strangers. Incidents such as the September 1967 shooting of Canadian filmmaker Hugh O'Connor — who was gunned down by an enraged landowner while making a documentary on poverty in nearby Letcher County — have done nothing to dispel such notions.
O'Connor was killed as President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty highlighted the region's destitution. Many locals, such as confessed shooter Hobart Ison, had long since grown tired of outsiders exploiting the region's natural resources.
University of Pittsburgh sociologist Kathleen Blee, co-author of a book about Clay County, says that when she heard of Sparkman's death, she initially wondered whether he had stumbled across a marijuana plot.
Pot growers seeking to avoid federal forfeiture statutes often plant their crops on national forest land and have even been known to booby-trap plots with explosives and rattlesnakes.
"Like any poor county, people are engaged in a variety of revenue sources," she said. "Not all of them legal."
Davis acknowledged Clay's "pretty wild history of a black market economy, a drug economy." He noted that Sparkman's death occurred at a time when marijuana producers are typically harvesting their crop.
"And so you have to be careful when you send some unsuspecting guy who's just trying to earn a buck to feed his family," he said. "Things can go bad really quickly."
Although the Census Bureau could not immediately offer statistics on violence against its workers, such incidents are not unheard of.
In 2000, a Milwaukee-area man was charged with battery for allegedly trying to shove a 74-year-old census worker down a flight of stairs. And in 2002, a Sacramento businessman was sentenced to a year in prison for violently dragging a 68-year-old widow off his property as she tried to explain the count's importance.
After Sparkman's body was found, the Census Bureau suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County until the investigation is complete.
The bureau has yet to begin canvassing for the 2010 head count, but thousands of field workers like Sparkman are doing smaller surveys on various demographic topics on behalf of federal agencies.
Mary Hibbard, a teacher at an adult learning center in Manchester, said Sparkman visited her house this summer. He asked basic information, like the size of her house, how many rooms it had and how much she paid monthly on her electric bill.
She seized the opportunity to ask him about his faith.
"You come to my house, we're going to talk religion," she said.
Eastern Kentucky is a region of many churches, and Hibbard thinks most people in the area would be shocked if it turns out Sparkman was murdered.
"I think the negative publicity of it is a stigma on our county," she said. "It makes people think less of us, even though this is an isolated incident. When it happens here, it seems like it's emphasized."
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Does anyone else hear banjos? Yikes!
FQ13
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Yeah, that will insure that more gubment workers won't be going there...
Congrats dummy, you just invited the FBI to your door step.
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the word "fed" scrawled on his chest
Well, at least we know he ate first.
Yeah, I know, I'm going to Hell for that, by way of the corner.
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Yeah, that will insure that more gubment workers won't be going there...
Congrats dummy, you just invited the FBI to your door step.
Sort of like those two brothers in Ca. that murdered their gay neighbor because they felt "threatened" that he might come on to them. Well good for them they're safe in prison where there is absolutely zero chance of any wanted homosexual advances. ::)
FQ13
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Sort of like those two brothers in Ca. that murdered their gay neighbor because they felt "threatened" that he might come on to them. Well good for them they're safe in prison where there is absolutely zero chance of any wanted homosexual advances. ::)
FQ13
sounds like justice to me.
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Maybe the census crew should have talked to DEA before heading in there. DEA doesn't rush in there without lots of back up. It is a different set of rules in that jungle than the "big bad city!"
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The census people flat out tell you, no LEA, INS, IRS... insert 3 letter goverment agencys. They don't care about that. THey just want the numbers, thats it.
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The census people flat out tell you, no LEA, INS, IRS... insert 3 letter goverment agencys. They don't care about that. THey just want the numbers, thats it.
Yeah they just want numbers that they have no business with!
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The census people flat out tell you, no LEA, INS, IRS... insert 3 letter goverment agencys. They don't care about that. THey just want the numbers, thats it.
Yep, and to a lot of people in this country a fed is a fed is a fed ... Or should I say the enemy.
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Yeah they just want numbers that they have no business with!
really, so you don't want to get another member of congress? census is how they determin how many members you have in the house. they also use it to give your state electorail votes.
Census records are sealed for a very long time.
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really, so you don't want to get another member of congress? census is how they determin how many members you have in the house. they also use it to give your state electorail votes.
Census records are sealed for a very long time.
Population is not the problem. It is all the other crap they want. A census form should be a simple card - How many in your household and what are their age ranges Period!!! Everything else of any importance, and way way more, they already have in other places.
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M58
I've said this before and I'll say it again. You are half right. All the constitution demands is a head count, how many and of what age and you don't even need to go to Bethleham to answer that. BUT and BUT the government does need other info like age, occupation, whether you have insurance, been a victim of a crime, speak English, income level etc. to administer a lot of other programs from medicaid to LEO deployment. The thing is that while the census may not be the most appropriate place for this information gathering it is the most cost effective. Every ten years we MUST (per Constitutional mandate) pay thousands of folks to knock on doors. Why not have them ask other questions we would pay tens of thousands to have answered via a private firm like Gallup? I make no judgement as to whether federal program x, y or z should exist, but if they do they need info and info costs money. Our money, tax dollars. Why not just stick a few questions on the form? Some will disagree and for two reasons. Reason the first: Government should not be involved in providing x,y and z and thus has no need to know. I agree, but we live in the real world and I'd prefer my money not be wasted due to ignorance of how to administer something effectively.
Reason the second: All they are entitled to ask is how many of what age live in a household. Again I agree, but in this case I will say why not give info that will save us all money and make a creaky bueacracy run smoother? If there is a good reason to say no, as a Libertarian, I'll probably get behind it. Persuade me.
FQ13
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I would like to know the name of 1 government program that ever "saved" me money...They all seem to cost me more each year due to mismanagement and out right fraud.
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M58
I've said this before and I'll say it again. You are half right. All the constitution demands is a head count, how many and of what age and you don't even need to go to Bethleham to answer that. BUT and BUT the government does need other info like age, occupation, whether you have insurance, been a victim of a crime, speak English, income level etc. to administer a lot of other programs from medicaid to LEO deployment. The thing is that while the census may not be the most appropriate place for this information gathering it is the most cost effective. Every ten years we MUST (per Constitutional mandate) pay thousands of folks to knock on doors. Why not have them ask other questions we would pay tens of thousands to have answered via a private firm like Gallup? I make no judgement as to whether federal program x, y or z should exist, but if they do they need info and info costs money. Our money, tax dollars. Why not just stick a few questions on the form? Some will disagree and for two reasons. Reason the first: Government should not be involved in providing x,y and z and thus has no need to know. I agree, but we live in the real world and I'd prefer my money not be wasted due to ignorance of how to administer something effectively.ANY MORE THAN IT ALREADY IS
Reason the second: All they are entitled to ask is how many of what age live in a household. Again I agree, but in this case I will say why not give info that will save us all money and make a creaky bueacracy run smoother? If there is a good reason to say no, as a Libertarian, I'll probably get behind it. Persuade me.
FQ13
FIFY ;D
Took me a couple minutes to figure out what Broso meant by that. ;D
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FQ,
Other agencies already have all of that information, and it is a waste of time and materials to duplicate. It is also an invasion of privacy to have another set, or thousand sets, of eyes viewing it all tied to my name. As far as speaking English ... Your a legal citizen, you get counted, you damn well better speak English ... Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ... How many of these mailings will be in how many different languages and how many multi lingual workers will get lynched ???
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Around here they were given orders to hop gates to get to GPS and knock on EVERY door. Between the dogs, BULLS, and meth cookers it is a MIRACLE that it took this long to happen.
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The Census is a head count for appropriation of representatives, not an in depth survey for the multiplicity of superfluous government programs that re-distribute wealth.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/us_census_worker_hanged
BIG CREEK, Ky. – A part-time census worker found hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery was naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape, said an Ohio man who discovered the body two weeks ago.
The word "fed" was written in felt-tip pen on 51-year-old Bill Sparkman's chest, but authorities have released very few other details in the case, such as whether they think it was an accident, suicide or homicide.
Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was certain from the gruesome scene that someone killed Sparkman.
"He was murdered," Weaver said. "There's no doubt."
Weaver said he was in the rural Kentucky county for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they saw the body.
"The only thing he had on was a pair of socks," Weaver said. "And they had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something."
Two people briefed on the investigation said various details of Weaver's account matched the details of the crime scene, though both people said they were not informed who found the body. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
"And they even had duct tape around his neck," Weaver said. "And they had like his identification tag on his neck. They had it duct-taped to the side of his neck, on the right side, almost on his right shoulder."
Authorities have refused to say if Sparkman was at work going to door-to-door for census surveys before he died.
Both of the people briefed on the investigation confirmed Sparkman's Census Bureau ID was found taped to his head and shoulder area. Weaver said he couldn't tell if the tag was a Census ID because he didn't get close enough to read it. He could see writing on Sparkman's chest, and could read that it said "fed."
Authorities said Thursday that a preliminary cause of death was asphyxiation, pending a full medical examination. Even the details behind that were murky. According to a Kentucky State Police statement, the body was hanging from a tree with a rope around the neck, yet it was in contact with the ground.
Weaver, who works for a family topsoil business in Fairfield, said the body was about 50 yards from a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. He said Sparkman's clothes were in the bed of the truck.
"His tailgate was down," Weaver said. "I thought he could have been killed somewhere else and brought there and hanged up for display, or they actually could have killed him right there. It was a bad, bad scene.
"It took me three or four good nights to sleep. My 20-year-old daughter ended up sleeping in the floor in our bedroom." he said.
Clay County Sheriff Kevin Johnson declined to comment on the investigation because the department is only playing a supporting role but said patrols have increased in the Daniel Boone National Forest since the body was found.
The Census Bureau has suspended door-to-door interviews in the rural county pending the investigation.
State Trooper Don Trosper said it was clear this wasn't a natural death but said all other possibilities were being considered.
"This case has many facets," he said. "To investigate cases, you have to rule out different scenarios. We are not able to rule out many scenarios at this time, and that's what makes this a difficult case."
Although anti-government sentiment was one possibility in the death, some in law enforcement also cited the prevalence of drug activity in the area — including meth labs and marijuana fields — although they had no reason to believe there was a link to Sparkman's death.
"Now they're taking their meth lab operations into the rural, secluded areas," the sheriff said. "We've had complaints in the area, but not that particular location."
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TAB had it right. These guys are so screwed. Killing a federal employee (who seems like good guy, Scout leader, teacher etc) is bad. Making a spectacle out of his body? Anyone with a three letter acronym and a badge will be down there. They will have to spray for federal agents before this is over with. I would either dime out or personally kill whoever did this if I were an honest pot grower there as the heat this murder will bring will at a minimum put me out of business for months and at worst send me to jail as the Feebs, the DEA, Homeland, Secret Service ICE, and for all I know the Postal Inspectors and a partridge in a pear tree are not going to be playing bean bag on this one. These idiots tried to set an example? The guys with the multi-million dollar budgets and all the cool toys will try to do the same. Guess who wins.
FQ13 Who still can be surprised at how dumb criminals can be. Note to perps, next time, try just burying the body in the woods, it might keep you alive longer. ::)
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FQ has the right idea on this. Wasn't it 35 years after the "Freedom Rider" killings in Mississippi that Byron De La Beckwith got convicted, and they were buried under a dam.
You can bet your bottom dollar that if there is that much drug activity going on there then there are people who have been busted before and will be busted again, some one will rat for a reduced sentence.
The long prison sentences handed out for drug offenses were what broke the Mafia, guys might do 10 years and keep their mouth shut, but start handing out 100 year sentences and you wind up with the entire Bonano Family, from the Boss down ALL informing.
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Of course, we knew the left would blame Glenn Beck and Bill o'Reilly for this:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2009/09/26/radio-host-mike-malloy-asserts-neo-fascist-right-loves-murder-census-wor
Photo of Tim Graham.
By Tim Graham (Bio | Archive)
September 26, 2009 - 16:55 ET
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On Wednesday, radical radio host Mike Malloy took a page from Ed Schultz (or perhaps it was the other way around) in asserting that the "neo-fascist right" takes joy in the killing of a Census worker:
This is what they do. O'Reilly inspires people to go kill doctors who provide private abortion services, legal services to his patients; and then O'Reilly stands there with that dung-eating look on his face -- what a SOB he is. ‘It wasn't me; of course it was you, you thug!’ And the suicide-prone Glenn Beck rails against Census workers, and inspires his people to kill one for sport; I bet you O'Reilly and Beck and the rest of these monsters on the neo-fascist right in this country love this stuff. It gives them something else to talk about. It's sport.
Can someone slap these people???
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Can someone slap these people???
With extreme prejudice! ;)
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BIG CREEK, Ky. – A part-time census worker found hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery was naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape, said an Ohio man who discovered the body two weeks ago.
The word "fed" was written in felt-tip pen on 51-year-old Bill Sparkman's chest, but authorities have released very few other details in the case, such as whether they think it was an accident, suicide or homicide.
Suicide? That seems a bit difficult if you ask me. And if it was, he had an accomplice...