Thread: Census Taker Found Dead

FBI probes hanging of census worker in Ky.; AP source: 'Fed' scrawled on dead man's chest



http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/new..._2.php?ref=fpa

Sep 23, 2009 17:00 EST



<br/> TheFBI is investigating whether anti-government sentiment led to thehanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery. A lawenforcement official told The Associated Press the word 'fed" wasscrawled on the dead man's chest.



Thebody of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker andteacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel BooneNational Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspendeddoor-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found,pending the outcome of the investigation.



Investigators arestill trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide,and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government jobor to anti-government sentiment. An autopsy report is pending.



Investigatorshave said little about the case. The law enforcement official, who wasnot authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, saidWednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and the word "fed" waswritten on the dead man's chest. The official did not say what type ofinstrument was used to write the word.



FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is helping state police with the case.



"Ourjob is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's partof the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whetherthat is related to his employment as a census worker," said Beyer.



Beyer declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene.



LucindiaScurry-Johnson, assistant director of the Census Bureau's southernoffice in Charlotte, N.C., said law enforcement officers have told theagency the matter is "an apparent homicide" but nothing else.



Censusemployees were told Sparkman's truck was found nearby, and a computerhe was using for work was found inside it, she said. He workedpart-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice amonth.



Sparkman has worked for the Census since 2003,spanning five counties in the surrounding area. Much of his recent workhad been in Clay County, officials said.



Door-to-door operations have been suspended in Clay County pending a resolution of the investigation, Scurry-Johnson said.



The U.S. Census Bureau is overseen by the Commerce Department.



"Weare deeply saddened by the loss of our co-worker," Commerce SecretaryGary Locke said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are withWilliam Sparkman's son, other family and friends."



Locke called him "a shining example of the hardworking men and women employed by the Census Bureau."



Themost deadly attack on federal workers came in 1995 when the federalbuilding in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb, killing 168and injuring more than 680. Tim McVeigh, who was executed for thebombing, carried literature by modern, ultra-right-wing anti-governmentauthors.



A private group called PEER, Public Employees forEnvironmental Responsibility, tracks violence against employees whoenforce environmental regulations, but the group's executive director,Jeff Ruch, said it's hard to know about all of the cases because someagencies don't share data on instances of violence against employees.



Ruchsaid that after the 1995 bombing of the federal building in OklahomaCity, "we kept getting reports from employees that attacks andintimidation against federal employees had not diminished, and that'swhy we've been tracking them."



"Even as illustrated in townhall meetings today, there is a distinct hostility in a large segmentof the population toward people who work for their government," Ruchsaid.

Sounds like he knocked on the wrong door.

Wow, there's some fuckin' psychos out there.

[quote name='johnflesh' date='23 September 2009 - 10:46 PM' timestamp='1253760361' post='26362']

Yeah I'd say so. That is quite messed up news to read.

[/quote]



And so it starts...



There's really no such thing as a "tax collector" these days, so I suppose a census worker is the only fed who comes around, kinda thing...

[quote name='johnflesh' date='23 September 2009 - 11:14 PM' timestamp='1253762077' post='26373']

I wouldn't have the faintest clue what crazy people think about.

[/quote]



Sure you would. Just read your American history.