Into the 'Hall of Shame'

bkrueger — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:50:35 -0400

A group of anti-war protesters inducted U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge into their “Hall of Shame” on Monday.

Members of CodePink, a grassroots organization that has been conducting ongoing protests on Capitol Hill, delivered a certificate to the office of Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, and eight other House members and six senators, reports Barb Barrett.

Terri Rourk Parham, a member from Wilmington, said the group was upset that Etheridge has not spoken out against a private company in his district with suspected ties to the CIA.

“Johnston County is where they have all the flights taking off for the CIA’s black-ops sites,” Parham said. “His quote has been, ‘It’s not my issue, or ‘It’s not my problem.’”

Aero Contractors of Smithfield rents private aircraft with pilots, and has been reportedly tied to CIA-backed flights to detention sites overseas.

Joanne Peters, Etheridge’s spokeswoman, said the congressman was not in Washington when the protesters stopped by, so they met with Etheridge’s legislative director instead.

“They expressed their concerns to him, and he listened to them,” Peters said.

Tortuous torture

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 23 May 2007 17:32:07 -0400

A House bill would direct the state Sentencing Commision to study outlawing torture.

Rep. Paul Luebke said the study is necessary because of allegations that a Smithfield-based company has sent terrorism suspects overeseas to be interrogated and tortured.

The Durham Democrat said that Attorney General Roy Cooper said that current law does not cover the alleged activities by Aero Contractors at an airport in Kinston.

Rep. Leo Daughtry, a Smithfield Republican, said that the company does "the bidding of the United States government" and should not be prosecuted.

"The state of North Carolina has got no more business investigating the people in Johnston County than they do Fort Bragg," he said.

A decision on the bill was postponed, possibly until later today.

Daughtry on torture