January 23, 2012

FBI Eyes Evil Acts Against Black Newspaper in Richmond, Va.

By Joey Matthews

Burned newspapers inside of box.

RICHMOND, Va. (TriceEdneyWire.com) - The FBI has gotten involved in a stream of criminal acts against the Richmond Free Press — including the burning of copies of the newspaper in Henrico County and the blockage of reader access to Free Press boxes in the city of Richmond.

The Richmond office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is “monitoring” the boxes to establish whether the acts amount to hate crimes, Raymond H. Boone, editor/publisher of the Richmond Free Press, said Wednesday.

Boone’s disclosure follows a meeting with Judy Sykes of the civil rights division of the Richmond FBI office. The editor/publisher met with Sykes Dec. 30 for more than two hours at the Free Press offices.

Boone quoted the special agent for the FBI as saying the Washington office of the FBI, responding to a National Public Radio interview with Boone, assigned her to investigate the attacks on the Free Press.

In response to Sykes’ request, Boone has couriered to the U.S. agency a 62-page list showing the addresses of each Free Press distribution box in the Richmond area.

The FBI has acknowledged the meeting between Boone and Sykes, but refused to give details.

“It’s my understanding that Ms. Sykes did come out and talk to Mr. Boone,” said FBI spokesperson Dee Rybiski. “It’s DOJ (Department of Justice) policy that the FBI not comment on whether or not we have an investigation.” Ms. Rybiski responded to a Free Press call placed to Sykes at the Richmond office of the FBI.

During the meeting, Sykes was provided documents, along with information showing how attempts have been made to snuff out the Free Press since it was established 20 years ago. The documents included photographs of burned copies of the Free Press at Willow Lawn in Henrico County and the use of construction netting in a City of Richmond sidewalk improvement project near Virginia Union University to block reader access to copies of the Free Press in one of its distribution boxes.

Other anti-Free Press acts include the placement of feces in distribution boxes, vandalism of the boxes and disappearance of boxes. Last month, stacks of copies of the Free Press were removed from a box and tossed out, littering the grounds near the McGuire Veterans Hospital on South Side.

Informed of the newspaper burning, Henrico County Fire Marshal David Seay said on Sept. 23 that his department is engaged in “an ongoing criminal investigation” and invited information in efforts to track down the newspaper burner(s).

In a Dec. 16 email to Mayor Dwight C. Jones informing him about the city’s inappropriate use of construction netting, Mr. Boone requested that the mayor identify the company that spread the netting that blocked access to the Free Press box.

He also requested the mayor’s reaction “to these criminal activities.”

In a meeting with Mr. Boone, the mayor opposed the vandalism of the Free Press boxes and said he would act to halt the vandalism.