Tag: lynching

Anatomy of a lynching

Kamel Musallet was at home in Florida, United States, when he last spoke to his son Sayfollah (Saif), who was visiting their ancestral hometown of al-Mazaraa ash-Sharqiyah (Mazraa) in the occupied West Bank.

Saif, 20, was in high spirits, telling Kamel he might have found the woman he wanted to marry and talking about how to start the arrangements.

Four days later, Kamel woke up the morning of July 11 to a call from his younger son, Muhammad, 18, telling him that settlers had attacked Saif.

At the time, Saif was lying on the ground near an oak tree where he had hidden to get away from rampaging settlers; he was unconscious and having trouble breathing.

By the time Saif had been carried to an ambulance, he was dead.

Saif’s friend, 23-year-old Muhammad “Rizik” al-Shalabi from Mazraa, was found later in the night – shot, beaten, tortured and left to die of his wounds.

Al Jazeera spoke with witnesses, victims, town officials, first aid responders, and search and rescue volunteers.

This is the story of how Saif and Rizik were lynched by a mob of Israeli settlers.

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Oklahoma sheriff, commissioner, accused of discussing killing a reporter and returning to Black hangings

In southeast Oklahoma, the sheriff of McCurtain County, one of his investigators and a county commissioner are accused by a newspaper of discussing to kill a local reporter and lamenting that modern justice no longer includes hanging Black people. 

The explosive accusations were published this week in the McCurtain Gazette-News.

According to the newspaper, Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning and District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings were part of an impromptu discussion after the March 6 meeting of the county Board of Commissioners. 

The Gazette reported that it is in possession of the full audio recording of the discussion. The FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office also have copies of the recording, according to the newspaper.

A portion of the audio recordings were released online over the weekend, and while the audio matched some of the quoted material in the story, The Oklahoman could not identify who the speakers were in the recordings.

None of the allegedly recorded individuals could immediately be reached for comment.

Chris Willingham is the reporter for the Gazette who was discussed in recordings. He is also the author of the article.

Willingham declined to comment on the story, citing ongoing litigation between himself and the sheriff’s office.

During the discussion, which was recorded without the trio knowing, the Gazette reported Manning saying she needed to take some packages to a shipping center near the newspaper’s office. 

She expressed concern about what could happen if Willingham walked out of the newspaper’s office, according to the newspaper. 

According to the Gazette, Willingham that day had filed a defamation lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, Manning and the Board of County Commissioners. 

The lawsuit claims were published in the Gazette about three months ago when the initial tort claim was filed, according to the newspaper’s report.

“Oh, you’re talking about you can’t control yourself?” Jennings allegedly said.

In response, Manning allegedly said:

“Yeah, I ain’t worried about what he’s gonna do to me. I’m worried about what I might do to him. My papaw would have whipped his ass, would have wiped him and used him for toilet paper … if my daddy hadn’t been run over by a vehicle, he would have been down there.”

Jennings replied that his 86-year-old father, in response to an opinion published in the newspaper, once “started to go down there and just kill him,” according to the Gazette.

“I know where two big, deep holes are here if you ever need them,” Jennings allegedly said. 

Clardy, the sheriff, allegedly said he had the equipment. 

“I’ve got an excavator,” Clardy is accused of saying during the discussion.

“Well, these are already pre-dug,” Jennings allegedly said. 

Jennings allegedly talked about knowing hitmen in Louisiana who could “cut no (expletive) mercy.”

A brief discussion about assaulting local judges followed, according to the Gazette. 

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NY Times Contributing Writer Calls For Lynching Mike Pence

Will Wilkinson, vice president for research at the Niskanen Center and a New York Times contributing opinion writer said Thursday that President Joe Biden would lynch former Vice President Mike Pence if he desires unity.

“‘Aha! Biden proposes policies I dislike. HIS CALL FOR UNITY IS A LIE!!!’ is all the forlorn conservative mind can seem to muster. Sad,” Wilkinson tweeted, according to a screenshot. 

“If Biden really wanted unity, he’d lynch Mike Pence,” Wilkinson tweeted, according to the screenshot.

The tweet, posted at 12:33 a.m. Thursday, has since been deleted.

“The Pence tweet was a tart way to drive home the exasperating irony and bad faith of right-wing pundits who have accused Biden of insincerity in his heartfelt calls for unification,” Wilkinson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“[T]heir own divisive rhetoric and willingness to spread disinformation about the election contributed to hundreds of Republicans storming the Capitol, erecting a noose, and calling for Mike Pence to be hanged.”

Wilkinson said that his agreement with Biden “that it is crucial for Americans to come together” is, in part, why he deleted the tweet.

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