Obama-Supporting Station Owner Issues Anti-Theft 'Shoot To Kill' Order

'SHOOT TO KILL'

Longtime Civil Rights Leader Combats Rising Crime







A local crime wave targeting an FM radio station has its owner issuing a controversial "shoot-to-kill" order against the thieves responsible for stealing his equipment.

By itself, that might not make headlines, but this case is different: the station is Jackson's legendary WMPR 90.1 FM and its owner is longtime civil rights leader Charles Evers, older brother of slain movement hero Medgar Evers.

Evers also hosts a popular talk show on the station.

Already in the news today for his defense of Barack Obama against white supremacists who believe the latter's election could trigger a backlash and subsequent boost for their cause, Evers hopes station staffers will permanently vanquish the burglars if they return to the property.

From WAPT-16:

"I don't want them to worry about them to come back," Evers said. "It doesn't make any sense for us, who work hard every day to make an honest living, for some thug who lies around all day to come and take our stuff."

Friday morning, Evers said two of his overnight announcers shot at some car burglars. They missed, but Evers said that if the thieves come back, they might not be as lucky.
Surveillance video showed the men Evers said he thinks are breaking into the cars at the station. A man can be seen running from the parking lot with DJ equipment that Evers said was stolen from cars.

Thursday was the third night in a row that cars at the radio station on Pecan Park Drive were broken into and vandalized.

No one was found after that shooting. The announcers said they don't think any of their shots hit the thieves.

"We have got to be more visible ourselves and help our officers," announcer Joe Washington said. "Try to protect ourselves and our belongings, that's all we can do. And pray that God gives us a solution."

Evers installed cameras, lights and a fence to keep thieves out. But he said the thieves have kicked down the fence and broken his lights repeatedly.

Though a longtime Republican, Evers is outspoken in his support for Democrat Barack Obama. From today's San Jose Mercury News:

Barrett, a New York City native who moved to Mississippi in 1966, said the Nationalist Movement has members in 36 states, but he won't say how many. He compares today's skinheads to the minutemen of the American Revolution.

"The Revolution, if you will, in 1776 brought the 13 colonies together against the king. And the same thing can happen now against Martin Luther King, with the 50 states," Barrett said, if Obama's elected.

Barrett says he is a Democrat but won't say whether he's voting for Obama. He'll only say he won't support McCain, Libertarian Bob Barr or independent Ralph Nader.

Charles Evers, brother of Medgar Evers, the Mississippi NAACP leader killed by a sniper in 1963, chuckles when told about Barrett's assertions.

"See, Richard doesn't really mean what he says. It's popular for him to say it. That's the way he makes a living," said Evers, who hosts a talk show on WMPR-FM in Jackson. "Same as Jesse Jackson, some more of our black revolutionaries who make a living off of keeping things emotional."

Although a longtime Republican, Evers supports Obama. He says the Democrat is more qualified than McCain.

Evers, whose office has photos of him with Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush and other politicians, said he sees broad, multiracial support for Obama, even in parts of the South where the white establishment dug in to try to preserve racial segregation decades ago.

"I think we're past that stage," Evers said. "I don't think the majority of white people are thinking that way anymore."

Good point, but how does Evers reconcile his support for Obama with tough-on-crime stances clearly not shared by his candidate? Does he really believe Barack would back him up when he shoots intruders?

Beyond that, what would happen to Second Amendment gun rights under an Obama Administration?

While we have nothing but respect and admiration for Evers and his fascinating life story, here, the ideological pieces just don't fit.


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Still of burglar: WAPT-16