James Burmeister Takes Two Lives - Gets Life
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| Three soldiers arrested in race-linked killings a4697LBY016reulb d a BC-RACE-SOLDIERS 12-08 0409 ^BC-RACE-SOLDIERS 1STLD@ ^Three soldiers arrested in race-linked killings@ (New throughout, pvs Fort Bragg) By Rob Lamme FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Dec 8 (Reuter) - A third Fort Bragg soldier was arrested Friday in connection with what were believed to be the racially motivated murders of two African-Americans, local police said. Specialist Randy Meadows, 21, a member of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division from Mulkeytown, Ill., was charged with conspiracy to commit first degree murder. He was the driver for the two other soldiers described as members of the Skinheads white supremicist group. Pvt. James Burmeister, 20, of Thompson, Pa., and Malcolm Wright, 21, of Lexington, Ky., were arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Michael James, 36, and Jackie Burden, 27, both from Fayetteville. A spokeswoman for the police department said the murders ``appear to be racially motivated.'' Fayetteville police said in a statement that shortly after the victims were found with bullet wounds to the head, the address of one of the suspects was discovered. The statement said that ``inside the trailer (where) the suspects were arrested was found a Nazi flag, several pamphlets that said 'The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich', 'Adolf Hitler' and resistance magazines.'' Military officials Friday from the 82nd Airborne -- the Army's only paratrooper unit -- condemned the murders and said they would investigate whether other soldiers were linked to extremist groups known for such racially motivated acts. ``Participation in extremist organisations is inconsistent with both the Army and the 82nd Airborne Division,'' Public Affairs Officer Maj. Rivers Johnson said. Johnson would not comment on the specifics of the case but stressed the Army's definition of active and passive participation in such organisations and the consequences. The military's version of active participation includes distributing or displaying literature or recruiting other soldiers. The consequences range from a letter of reprimand, barring re-enlistment or discharge. Passive participation is reading the literature or attending an event sponsored by a hate group while not in uniform. For that, the soldier would be offered counselling. Under the U.S. constitution there is not much the Army can do to keep its personnel from reading or attending events, Johnson admitted. ``Even though we're the Army, soldiers do have constitutional rights.'' ^REUTER@ Reut19:45 12-08-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service |
From Nicole Anderson
<nra@acpub.duke.edu> Organization Duke University, Durham, NC, USA Date Fri, 7 Mar 1997 11:21:03 -0500 Newsgroups soc.culture.african.american Message-ID <Pine.SOL.3.91.970307111621.6001B-100000@bio1.acpub.duke.edu> References 1 On Thu, 6 Mar 1997, Michael Rimpel wrote: > > Once again the court system proves that the lives of Black people > don't seem to measure up. It was just reported that Burmeister the > 82nd Airborne that killed a Black couple to make a name for himself > to a white supremist group won't get the death penalty because the > jury in North Carolina couldn't come to a unanimous decision. The man > killed two people in cold blood what more do you have to do to warrent > the death penalty??? OJ did the same think and people still want him > to fry. I wonder what that jury would of thought if it had been a > young Nation of Islam member killing a white couple to look good for > Farrakahn??? I bet his ass would be riding Ol Sparky!! And they > wonder why Black peole don't like or trust the court systems in > America! but he was drunk off his *ss when he did it...comes the cries from his defenders. b*llsh*t. this case has really upset me. i am by no means a supporter of the death penalty for various reasons that are immaterial, but i was disappointed that he did not receive it. not because i want him to die for what he did but because i know that had he been black he would be frying. there is no doubt in my mind that his race is what saved his sorry *ss. and they say that the death penalty is applied evenly irrespective of race. not in this state. nic-who is upset beyond upset |
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