PA newspaper runs ad calling for Obama's assassination

The Warren Pennsylvania Times-Observer (www.timesobserver.com) published an ad today calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama.

The text of the small classified ad reads, “May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy!”  There is no other text and it has no attribution.  The ad may be viewed here http://morrillmajority.org/warrenad.pdf.

Keystone Progress called the Times-Observer for comment and got a return call from John T. Elchert, the paper’s publisher.  Mr. Elchert was extremely apologetic and wanted to make it clear that the ad did not reflect the paper’s policy.

“It is unfortunate that it made it to press,” said Elchert.  “The person who took the ad didn’t recognize the significance of the names.  We cancelled the ad and turned the information over to the authorities.”

Mr . Elchert said that he contacted the local police who were forwarding the information to federal authorities.

“Unfortunately, the attitude of the person who placed the ad is too prevalent in Pennsylvania,” said Michael Morrill, the executive director of Keystone Progress.  “In the last few days we’ve gotten emails calling the president ‘chimp’ and the n-word after he nominated Judge Sotomayor.  It makes it very difficult to organize around issues when the opposition to the president’s policies is so racially charged. ”

Keystone Progress (www.keystoneprogress.org) is the organization that exposed the racism and hatred at McCain and Palin rallies in Pennsylvania (www.youtube.com/morrillmajority).   They are also helping to organize the campaign to get Governor Rendell to speak out against the beating death of Latino immigrant Luis Ramirez last year in Schuylkill County (http://presente.org/ref/ad/14/campaigns/ramirez/org/keystone).