A U.S. Census worker who was found back in September naked, gagged, bound and hanging from a tree (with the word “Fed” scrawled on his chest) was not – as it has been suggested – a victim of right-wing “teabagger violence.”
The government employee, 51-year-old Bill Sparkman, actually committed suicide and staged the elaborate scene to make it look like a homicide.
From the Associated Press:
Kentucky State Police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski said an analysis found that “fed” was written “from the bottom up.” He was touching the ground, and to survive “all Mr. Sparkman had to do at any time was stand up,” she said.
“Our investigation, based on evidence and witness testimony, has concluded that Mr. Sparkman died during an intentional, self-inflicted act that was staged to appear as a homicide,” Rudzinski said.
Authorities said Sparkman alone manipulated the suicide scene. Rudzinski said he “told a credible witness that he planned to commit suicide and provided details on how and when.”
Left-leaning blogs had initially pounced on Sparkman’s “murder” as a pretext for slamming “teabaggers” as well as conservative media figures like Glenn Beck, who they viewed as responsible for stoking the sort of hatred necessary for the perpetration of such a crime.
They called it the “Kentucky lynching,” speculating that it was a case of “Southern populist terrorism.”
“(This) incident has drawn many to believe it may be related to recent distrust of the Census Bureau by elements of the Teabaggers, as sparked by comments made earlier this year by folks like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Glenn Beck, and many of the other personalities who advanced paranoia about the possibility of 2010 Census workers being hired from places such as favorite wingnut whipping-boy ACORN, via outlets like Fox ‘News,’” the liberal Brad Blog wrote at the time.
Yeah … not so much.
By bondwooley November 28, 2009 at 10:48 am
Maybe the teabaggers aren’t crazy enough to murder, but they make it clear that they’re angry.
But what are *real* people angry about?
http://bit.ly/5K4TIZ
(satire)
By Liberty For Me November 28, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Dumbwooley…you are so full of it.To come up with that many ignorantly informed people you would have to have deleted 90% of the answers you would get to the question…Nobody falls for this socialsit crap anymore.Give it up!!
By Ynot November 28, 2009 at 12:20 pm
No no no… more disinformation.
By senseless November 28, 2009 at 1:56 pm
That doesn’t make sense. It sounds like a good way to close a case that would go unsolved. Can someone who knows about hanging help clear this point? If someone was struggling for breath and all they had to do was to stand up, then wouldn’t their reaction be to do so? In the same way that a person who cannot swim also cannot drown without having water over his or her head? Even if you are suicidal, the fact that you want to drown yourself can’t occur unless you are actually underwater. You can’t crouch in 4 feet of water and do yourself in. Please explain how a man can hang himself when all he has to do is stand up to breathe.
By No Way! November 28, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I’m sure that based on “Liberty for Me”‘s likely opinion of this piece, the government probably killed this man.
By Just another Joe November 30, 2009 at 7:26 am
Suicide or not. What is certain is that Glen Beck, Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and other right wing nuts did talk trash about the US Census and census workers. Why? Are these people ever happy? Bitch & moan that is all they do?
Oh yea. LFM are you for liberty for others or for just yourself?
By Liberty For Me December 1, 2009 at 9:04 am
Just another Joe…for everyone.Whats your point?