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White supremacists interrupt Holocaust rememberance event

White supremacists interrupt  Holocaust rememberance event

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RUSSELLVILLE — A group of white supremacists in Arkansas interrupted a Holocaust remembrance event this week carrying Nazi flags and shouting racial slurs, local news reported Tuesday.

The Courier reported that demonstrators interrupted Sunday’s March of Remembrance in Russellville, an event meant to honor survivors and those who were killed in the Holocaust.

“It made me feel terrible, it made me feel terrible for my friends. They were talking to us like we were pieces of nothing,” said Joyce Griffis, the event’s organizer.

Randy Cook, who concluded the event with prayer, according to The Courier, said the protests didn’t reflect the Russellville community.

“It’s just a few people stirring things up,” he said.

“Russellville is a wonderful community, and we’ve never had any trouble. They don’t reflect Russellville at all.”

Beryl Wolfson, a 96-yearold World War II veteran who saw the liberation of concentration camps, was slated to speak at the event.

“Never forget, because it could happen again, and I’m trying to get this out to the people so it won’t happen again in any place,” he said.

Billy Roper said his group, Shield Wall Network, protested the event because of the controversy surrounding a scholarship at Arkansas Tech University that was named after the late professor Dr. Michael Link, who was accused by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and others of being a Holocaust denier.

“The rally that we held was a protest against the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), and Dr. Sarah Stein’s attempts to intimidate and blackmail Arkansas Tech University into removing Dr. Michael Link’s name from the scholarship he endowed,” Roper told KFSM. Stein, who is Jewish, is a professor at Arkansas Tech.

The ADL wrote a letter last month that was signed by more than 40 scholars in Jewish studies urging Arkansas Tech University President Dr. Robin Bowen to no longer name the scholarship for Link. The university, in turn, said it found no evidence to support criticism of Link for making anti-Semitic comments in his work, the Arkansas Times reported in April.

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Tennessee man charged after wife finds video of him raping 5-year-old boy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — ATennessee man is facing a child rape charge after police said his wife discovered a disturbing video on his cellphone.

John Calvillo, 20, of Nashville, was arrested Sunday after his wife found the clip, which appeared to show Calvillo raping a 5-year-old boy, and reported it to police, authorities said.

Calvillo’s wife told Metro Nashville police that the incident, filmed in March, appeared to have taken place in the couple’s home. She said the victim was one of her relatives.

Calvillo was jailed on $150,000 bond.

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Petition circulating to bring back Southaven skate park

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — A high school student is trying to bring back a skate park that was recently torn down in Southaven, Mississippi. The 16-year-old is asking for 1,000 signatures and plans to present the petition to city leaders. The creator, Jarrett Peterson wrote that he spent a lot of time at the skate park riding his bike.

“The Southaven Skate park has had a tremendous impact on my life for the better. Before I began riding my BMX there, I would spend most of my time indoors playing video games. I have met many of my closest friends at the skatepark. It continued to have a positive impact on me for over a year until it was taken away from us in a matter of hours.

Now I and my friends have nowhere to partake in our favorite afternoon activity.”

The park was dismantled last month by city crews. According to Southaven mayor Darren Musslewhite, the skate park was removed due to numerous concerns expressed by citizens who live near the site and the City’s repetitive efforts to correct the vandalism damage.

On April 2, the Board of Alderman voted unanimously to have the park dismantled.

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