111 BROADWAY, ELEVENTH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10006-1901
LEONARD B. BOUDIN (1912-1989) MICHAEL KRINSKY ERIC M. LIEBERMAN DAVID B. GOLDSTEIN CHRISTOPHER J. KLATELL February 13, 2007
VIA EMAIL AND U.S. POST
Mr. Rodney Burgess
Editorial Page Editor
Texarkana Gazette
P.O. Box 621
Texarkana, Texas 75504
[email protected]Dear Mr. Burgess:
I am an attorney for Alamo Ministries and write to correct several gross falsehoods in an article by Jim Williamson in your February 10, 2007 edition entitled, “Fouke Council Meeting: An Entertaining Event.” I trust you will make these corrections known to your reading public.
In the article, Mr. Williamson states that “A security company was hired [by the Ministries] to stop traffic from driving on the street [Circle Drive].” That is not true. The reason that the Ministries and its members hired the security company was to protect the Ministries and its members from harassment and threats of others. These others have engaged in such acts as shooting out the Ministries’ signs, driving trucks over flower beds while screaming racist obscenities, throwing articles on the Ministries’ lawn, interrupting religious services, and other acts. They also have made public threats on the internet to kidnap children of the parishioners, and, most recently, to invade the Ministries’ property with guns and to burn it down.
Surely, the Ministries is more than justified in retaining a private security agency to protect it from such harassment and threats. I would hope that Mr. Williamson and the Gazette would take more care to be accurate in reporting such matters, rather than merely mouthing the mantra of the very people whose actions and words have required the Ministries to take such protective measures.
Very truly yours
Eric M. Lieberman
