Michael Hastings Dies in Suspicious Car 'Crash'.....

[Peter Lemkin]

I totally agree Peter. It used to be that authors and journalists were not murdered. The thinking by the power elite was that only a few read this stuff so why bother killing the messenger. But now in this internet age and more people becoming aware there has been a shift. THis IS a war on investigative journalists and whistle blowers. Murdering Hastings was akin to murdering Dorothy Kilgallen. Both murders served a dual purpose. One of shutting down that story, and the more important reason: let the writer know that this could be his/her fate. With Dorothy it was her high profile that played a huge role. Unknown researchers/writers on the assassination were left alone in terms of murder. (Mostly). Since 9-11 we have seen the advance of fascism at an alarming rate. And most just fall for it, stand for it. This must have been how it was in Italy, Germany etc. I weep for the world our grand-daughters (13 and 10) will grow up into.

Dawn

Your mention of Kilgallen is important. Your first sentence should, IMO, be slightly modified to: 'It used to be that authors and journalists were not murdered OFTEN.' I can think of others before or just after Kilgallen who were murdered to silence, but it was an unusual event. Many were during the Anarchist Movement, The Women's Movement, The Workers Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the '60's'.

Now, it is open hunting season on investigative journalists and whistleblowers - and anyone remotely like them. Mary Meyers was, in effect, acting as a whistleblower after doing her own [personal] investigation on who was behind the JFK assassination, and was murdered. Karen Silkwood, acting primarily as a whistleblower and having done her own investigation was killed to protect Kerr-McGee and US Nuclear dirty secrets [plutonium given to Israeli nuke program, most likely]....just to name some others. As you say, it almost always has a dual purpose - to stop the message by killing the messenger - and to scare off others from even thinking of attempting something along those lines. Now, the list of those clearly assassinated for investigative reporting and/or whistleblowing is long and growing fast....I would expect it to increase rapidly in the next months and years, unless the People stop being Sheeple!

Below is a very PARTIAL, 'tame' and mostly 'not-Deep-Political' list of journalists killed from wiki: I'm trying to find a better list somewhere.....

[TABLE="class: wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter"]
[TR]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2 August 2007[/TD]
[TD]Chauncey Bailey[/TD]
[TD]The Oakland Post[/TD]
[TD]Oakland,California[/TD]
[TD]After investigating corruption in his community, Bailey was murdered on his way to work by the target of his reporting.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][11][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5 October 2001[/TD]
[TD]Robert Stevens (photo editor)[/TD]
[TD]Sun[/TD]
[TD]Boca Raton,Florida[/TD]
[TD]Murdered as one of the media targets of the 2001 anthrax attacks less than a month after 9/11.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][12][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11 September 2001[/TD]
[TD]Bill Biggart[/TD]
[TD]Freelance photographer[/TD]
[TD]Manhattan,New York City, New York[/TD]
[TD]Killed while photographing the rescue effort outside the World Trade Center before the tower collapsed.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][13][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]24 October 1993[/TD]
[TD]Dona St. Plite[/TD]
[TD]WKAT-AM[/TD]
[TD]Little Haiti,Miami, Florida[/TD]
[TD]St. Plite was attending a benefit for former colleague Fritz Dor when he was also assassinated for supporting Jean-Bertrand Aristide.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][14][/SUP][SUP][15][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11 March 1992[/TD]
[TD]Manuel de Dios Unanue[/TD]
[TD]El Diario La Prensa[/TD]
[TD]Queens, New York City, New York[/TD]
[TD]Murdered by Colombian drug traffickers for writing about drug trade.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][16][/SUP][SUP][17][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15 March 1991[/TD]
[TD]Fritz Dor[/TD]
[TD]WLQY-AM (1320)[/TD]
[TD]Little Haiti, Miami, Florida[/TD]
[TD]A colleague of Olivier's at WLQY, he was assassinated as he left a club.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][14][/SUP][SUP][18][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19 February 1991[/TD]
[TD]Jean-Claude Olivier(a.k.a. Division Star)[/TD]
[TD]WLQY-AM (1320)[/TD]
[TD]Little Haiti, Miami, Florida[/TD]
[TD]A colleague of Dor's, he was known for his controversial commentary and was assassinated on his way to his car.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][14][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22 September 1990[/TD]
[TD]Triet Le[/TD]
[TD]Van Nghe Tien Phong[/TD]
[TD]Bailey's Crossroads,Virginia[/TD]
[TD]A columnist of controversial content for the same Vietnamese magazine that employed Nhan Trong Do. Assassinated.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][SUP][22][/SUP][SUP][23][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nov. 22, 1989[/TD]
[TD]Nhan Trong Do[/TD]
[TD]Van Nghe Tien Phong[/TD]
[TD]Fairfax County, Virginia[/TD]
[TD]A layout designer who worked with Triet Le, he was the first employer of the Vietnamese-language magazine to be assassinated.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][SUP][22][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9 August 1987[/TD]
[TD]Tap Van Pham (a.k.a. Hoai Diep Tu)[/TD]
[TD]Mai[/TD]
[TD]Garden Grove, California[/TD]
[TD]He was assassinated by arson while sleeping in his office by an anti-communist group that took responsibility.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15 October 1984[/TD]
[TD]Henry Liu(a.k.a. Chiang Nan)[/TD]
[TD]Freelancer and author[/TD]
[TD]Daly City, California[/TD]
[TD]A critic of Taiwan who was assassinated by order from Taiwan.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][24][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19 June 1984[/TD]
[TD]Alan Berg[/TD]
[TD]KOA (AM)[/TD]
[TD]Denver,Colorado[/TD]
[TD]A liberal radio show host who was murdered by a white nationalist group.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][25][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]24 August 1982[/TD]
[TD]Nguyen Dam Phong[/TD]
[TD]Tu Do(Freedom)[/TD]
[TD]Houston,Texas[/TD]
[TD]Was assassinated at his home by an anti-communist group.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][SUP][26][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21 July 1981[/TD]
[TD]Duong Trong Lam[/TD]
[TD]Cai Dinh Lang (The Village Temple)[/TD]
[TD]San Francisco, California[/TD]
[TD]Killed by gunfire from a member of one of two anti-communist groups that claimed responsibility for his assassination.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][SUP][27][/SUP][SUP][28][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9 March 1977[/TD]
[TD]Maurice Williams (reporter)[/TD]
[TD]WHUR-FM[/TD]
[TD]Washington, D.C.[/TD]
[TD]He was murdered during the 1977 Hanafi Siege.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][29][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2 June 1976[/TD]
[TD]Don Bolles[/TD]
[TD]Arizona Republic[/TD]
[TD]Phoenix,Arizona[/TD]
[TD]Murdered as a result of a car bomb set by the mafia outside the Clarendon Hotel.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][30][/SUP][SUP][31][/SUP][SUP][32][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]29 August 1970[/TD]
[TD]Rubén Salazar[/TD]
[TD]Los Angeles Times[/TD]
[TD]Los Angeles, California[/TD]
[TD]Salazar was killed by deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department while covering the Chicano Moratorium protest in East Los Angeles. The park where the protest took place was later renamed Salazar Park in his honor.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][33][/SUP][SUP][34][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]29 July 1949[/TD]
[TD]W.H. "Bill" Mason[/TD]
[TD]KBKI radio[/TD]
[TD]Alice, Texas[/TD]
[TD]Known as a crusading radio journalist in a county ruled with an iron hand by local law enforcement, Mason was shot dead by Sheriff deputy Sam Smithwick, who Mason had publicly accused of running a strip club. The senate candidate who lost to Lyndon B. Johnson believed that Smithwick had information about how the election had been rigged but Smithwick was hanged before their meeting. Mason's tombstone reads: "He had the nerve to tell the truth for a lot of little people."[/TD]
[TD][SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][35][/SUP][SUP][36][/SUP][SUP][37][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22 January 1945[/TD]
[TD]Arthur Kasherman[/TD]
[TD]Public Press(alternative)[/TD]
[TD]Minneapolis,Minnesota[/TD]
[TD]His death figured into Hubert Humphrey's mayoral victory.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][38][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9 December 1935[/TD]
[TD]Walter Liggett[/TD]
[TD]Midwest American[/TD]
[TD]Minneapolis, Minnesota[/TD]
[TD]He wrote about political corruption and organized crime.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][39][/SUP][SUP][40][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6 September 1934[/TD]
[TD]Howard Guilford[/TD]
[TD]The Saturday Press[/TD]
[TD]Minneapolis, Minnesota[/TD]
[TD]Editor of a newspaper that exposed corruption and organized crime. He and partner Jay Near won the US Supreme Court decision in Near v. Minnesota.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][41][/SUP][SUP][42][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23 July 1930[/TD]
[TD]Jerry Buckley[/TD]
[TD]WMBC-AM[/TD]
[TD]Detroit,Michigan[/TD]
[TD]Gunned down on election night.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][43][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16 July 1927[/TD]
[TD]Donald Ring Mellett[/TD]
[TD]Canton Daily News[/TD]
[TD]Canton, Ohio[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][SUP][1][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9 November 1908[/TD]
[TD]Edward W. Carmack[/TD]
[TD]Nashville American[/TD]
[TD]Nashville,Tennessee[/TD]
[TD]Former congressman and senator. He was killed by a former army officer who disapproved of his name appearing in an article and threatened the editor.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][44][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1 April 1898[/TD]
[TD]William Cowper Brann(a.k.a. Brann the Iconoclast)[/TD]
[TD]Iconoclast[/TD]
[TD]Waco, Texas[/TD]
[TD]Wrote critical articles about Baptists. Shot in the back during a duel.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][45][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]27 March 1884[/TD]
[TD]Charles L. Kusz[/TD]
[TD]The Gringo and Greaser[/TD]
[TD]Manzano,New Mexico[/TD]
[TD]Shot through his window by unknown gunman on horses. His newspaper was reform oriented and created enemies as it sought changes.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][46][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17 November 1881[/TD]
[TD]A.B. Thornton[/TD]
[TD]Boonville News[/TD]
[TD]Boonville,Missouri[/TD]
[TD]The town marshal killed Thornton because of criticism from the newspaper and won acquittal based on the perception that the criticism was too intense.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][47][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12 June 1881[/TD]
[TD]Jerome James Collins[/TD]
[TD]New York Herald[/TD]
[TD]Bennett Island, Bering Strait[/TD]
[TD]An Irish American, Collins founded the Clan na Gael, an Irish republican organization in the United States, and left on a polar expedition as a reporter and meteorologist with the Jeannette expedition to avoid police. However, all but two survived the sinking of the vessel.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][48][/SUP][SUP][49][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23 April 1880[/TD]
[TD]Charles De Young[/TD]
[TD]The Daily Dramatic Chronicle[/TD]
[TD]San Francisco, California[/TD]
[TD]With his brother M. H. de Young, he founded the newspaper that would become the San Francisco Chronicle. The mayor's son killed him in revenge for a feud de Young had with his father.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][50][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]27 March 1877[/TD]
[TD]J. Clarke Swayze[/TD]
[TD]Topeka Daily Blade[/TD]
[TD]Topeka, Kansas[/TD]
[TD]Swayze was killed after publishing a critical article about his murderer.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][51][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]25 June 1876[/TD]
[TD]Mark Kellogg (reporter)[/TD]
[TD]Associated Press[/TD]
[TD]Little Bighorn Battlefield,Montana[/TD]
[TD]The first Associated Press journalist to die while reporting.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][52][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5 November 1871[/TD]
[TD]Frederick Wadsworth Loring[/TD]
[TD]Appleton's Journal[/TD]
[TD]Wickenburg, Arizona[/TD]
[TD]Was killed while on assignment out west in what is known as the Wickenburg Massacre, an attack on a stagecoach by native Americans.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][53][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14 September 1866[/TD]
[TD]Ridgeway Glover[/TD]
[TD]Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper[/TD]
[TD]Fort Phil Kearny,Wyoming[/TD]
[TD]While covering the American Indian Wars, Glover was killed and mutilated during the construction of Fort Kearny in 1866.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][54][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1864[/TD]
[TD]Albert Street[/TD]
[TD]The Mobile Register[/TD]
[TD]Unknown[/TD]
[TD]One of the few southern journalists killed during the US Civil War.[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6 May 1864[/TD]
[TD]Samuel Fiske (aka Dunn Browne)[/TD]
[TD]The Springfield Republican[/TD]
[TD]Fredricksburg, Virginia[/TD]
[TD]Capt. Fiske wrote under the name Dunn Browne and served in the army and was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][55][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23 June 1863[/TD]
[TD]Lynde Walter Buckingham[/TD]
[TD]New York Herald[/TD]
[TD]Aldie, Virginia[/TD]
[TD]Killed as a result of an ambush during the U.S. Civil War. He was buried at the Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church-VDHR 53-339 in Aldie.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][56][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6 April 1862[/TD]
[TD]Irving Carson[/TD]
[TD]New York Tribune[/TD]
[TD]Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee[/TD]
[TD]First journalist to be killed during the U.S. Civil War. Killed by a cannonball fire while covering the Battle of Shilohand General Ulysses S. Grant.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][57][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20 May 1856[/TD]
[TD]James King of William[/TD]
[TD]Daily Evening Bulletin[/TD]
[TD]San Francisco, California[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][SUP][58][/SUP][SUP][59][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22 June 1854[/TD]
[TD]Joseph Mansfield[/TD]
[TD]San Joaquin Republican[/TD]
[TD]Stockton, California[/TD]
[TD]Mansfield was killed in a fight with a rival editor, both of whom were Democrats.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][60][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15 September 1848[/TD]
[TD]John Jenkins[/TD]
[TD]Vicksburg Sentinel[/TD]
[TD]Vicksburg,Mississippi[/TD]
[TD]Killed in a fight with an attorney after the two had a previous altercation.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][61][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]29 February 1844[/TD]
[TD]James A. Ryan[/TD]
[TD]Vicksburg Sentinel[/TD]
[TD]Vicksburg, Mississippi[/TD]
[TD]The Vicksburg Sentinel was a Democrat paper and Ryan was killed by his rival Whig counterpart in a duel on their second fight.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][62][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6 June 1843[/TD]
[TD]James Hagan[/TD]
[TD]Vicksburg Sentinel[/TD]
[TD]Vicksburg, Mississippi[/TD]
[TD]He was killed by the son of a man Hagan had criticized in his newspaper.[/TD]
[TD][SUP][61][/SUP][SUP][62][/SUP][SUP][63][/SUP][SUP][64][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7 November 1837[/TD]
[TD]Elijah Parish Lovejoy[/TD]
[TD]Alton Observer[/TD]
[TD]Alton, Illinois[/TD]
[TD]This abolition editor was killed by a mob supporting slavery in the Union.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]