This hit piece made the FRONT PAGE of the Keene Sentinel. Must be a slow news day. How can hearsay, rumor, and innuendo be worthy of the front page?
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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Jaffrey event sparks concern
Anna Haigh
Sentinel Staff
JAFFREY ? Jaffrey?s first ?Live Free or Die Celebration? is classified as an extremist event by the Anti-Defamation League, but organizers say that listing is a mistake.
?We?ve been doing a little bit of damage control today,? Richard H. Olson, co-organizer of the event, said Wednesday. ?It turned out to be a hornet?s nest when I thought it was going to be a fun event.?
The celebration appears on a national list of events deemed extremist on the Web site of the Anti-Defamation League, a national organization that fights hatred, extremism and terrorism.
The Web site lists the event as a ?demonstration organized by N.H. Council of Conservative Citizens, a racist organization.?
The national Council of Conservative Citizens, based in Missouri, doesn?t list a New Hampshire chapter on its Web site.
Olson said event co-organizer Jean M. Coutu sent the national council a notice about the ?Live Free or Die? event.
?We didn?t realize that (the council) had the connections that it did have,? Olson said.
He said the event was in no way organized by the national Council of Conservative Citizens, and said he and Coutu are asking the Anti-Defamation League to take the ?Live Free or Die Celebration? off its extremist event listing. They?re also asking the Council of Conservative Citizens to take mention of the event off of its Web site.
Robert Trestan, Northeast civil rights counsel with the Anti-Defamation League, said the league posted the event on its list of extremist events because the Council of Conservative Citizens said it was an organizer, and because the Jaffrey celebration?s Web site had a link to the council.
As for an appeal, ?that?s something that they?ll need to take up with the Council of Conservative Citizens,? Trestan said.
?In some ways, what we?re reporting on our Web site is based on information that both of these organizations have posted on their own Web sites.?
Officials from the Council of Conservative Citizens could not be reached for comment today.
The notice that was posted in July on the Council of Conservative Citizens? Web site reads: ?The New Hampshire CofCC is organizing The Live Free Or Die March and Rally, on August 26, in downtown Jaffrey, N.H ... CofCC Members in New Hampshire and New England, and from even further away, for those who are so ambitious, are invited.?
The Anti-Defamation League?s Web site describes the ideology of the Council of Conservative Citizens as ?white supremacy and white separatism.?
The council ?advances its ideology by inflaming fears and resentments, among Southern whites particularly, with regard to black-on-white crime, non-white immigration, attacks on the public display of the Confederate flag, and other issues related to ?traditional? Southern culture,? the Web site said.
In a letter Coutu sent to the Anti-Defamation League, and made public, he wrote: ?I consulted and only consulted several organizations known for large rallies as to keep it within all legal boundaries. The links on our site were to only be to the approved speakers and their (Web sites). Apparently a link was on there that wasn't authorized and was removed. Claims by many groups on Web sites are out of our control.?
But the listing has already prompted one state senator to reconsider speaking at the event.
N.H. Sen. Robert J. Letourneau, R-Derry, was scheduled to speak at the Aug. 26 celebration about the history of the state?s motto.
?If they don?t get off the list, I may reconsider,? he said Wednesday. ?I certainly don?t want to be involved in anything that?s anti-racial in any way, shape or form.?
Other scheduled speakers include N.H. State Rep. John B. Hunt, R-Rindge, Olson, and former Jaffrey state representative H. Charles Royce.
The event will cover issues such as preservation of land around Mount Monadnock, immigration law enforcement, helmet choice advocacy, honesty in local government and eminent domain property protection, organizers say.
Olson also said a link to the national Council of Conservative Citizens that appeared on the event?s Web site on Wednesday had been put up in error.
?The correct link on our Web site should have been ccfile.org,? Olson said, which is four letters different than the site for the conservative citizens council.
?It was just a mistype.?
The ?ccfile? address leads to a Web site for ?Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration and Law Enforcement.?
The immigration Web site includes links to ?help stop illegal aliens from taking American jobs? and ?we don?t need guest workers.?
All details of the Jaffrey celebration had been taken down off the event?s Web site today.
The Anti-Defamation League?s list of extremist events includes gatherings such as an anti-immigration demonstration in Wisconsin organized by a neo-Nazi group, a convention in California organized by a tax-protest group and a southern festival in Tennessee organized by a neo-Confederate group.
Olson said he Coutu are now working to spread the message that hate groups are not welcome at the celebration.
He said anyone with literature, clothing, signs or speech that is found to be anti-Semitic, or in support of white supremacy or racist views, will be asked to leave.
Anna Haigh can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1434, or ahaigh@keenesentinel.com.