Bo Mitchell Accosts Newspaper Publisher Candidate Attempts to Block Newspaper Delivery

Nashville, Tennessee (Nov. 5, 2012)  --- Bo Mitchell, city councilman and candidate for Tennessee’s State House of Representatives in District 50, attempted to physically block the delivery of a local newspaper in the Bellevue area today because he was not happy with the contents.

“He screamed at us, shook the paper at us and called it ‘trash’,” says Larry Crim, publisher of The Nashvillian. “Apparently, Bo Mitchell doesn’t understand freedom of the press. This newspaper was fine with him when he placed an ad in it, but now that there is a news item on his opponent, he’s threatening my staff and me.”

At issue is an article published about a letter that is circulating in District 50. The newspaper reports in the subject article that Mitchell's opponent, Williamson, has stated that the letter "is already forgery and mail fraud. If the money for this letter is traced to my opponent or anyone acting on his behalf, it’s also a clear violation of campaign finance law."

According to Crim, Mitchell was "extremely upset about this coverage of his opponent's claims and tried to physically block the newspaper containing this allegation from his opponent from being circulated in Bellevue and other areas."

The letter, signed by one “Glenda R. Williams” contains negative accusations about Mitchell’s opponent, Charles Williamson. The negative campaign piece is very similar to comments made in direct mail pieces by the Mitchell campaign against Charles Williamson. The state election commission has been unable to verify that anyone named Glenda R Williams is registered to vote in District 50.

“We contacted Mr. Mitchell when we received the press release and gave him 40 hours to comment,” Crim says. “We received no response. When someone hides from the media, you have to wonder if the accusations might be true.”

Crim says that Mitchell attempted to block the way with his truck as Crim attempted to deliver newspapers to homes in Mitchell’s Bellevue neighborhood, and threatened the newspaper man.

“He said, ‘Go ahead and keep circulating these and see if it doesn’t cause trouble for you,’” Crim notes.

The Nashvillian, which was launched in 2010, is a free, non-partisan newspaper, covering stories of general interest with a focus on political news and information. The current issue includes a business story on an area wholesaler, a column on environmentalism, and several stories on local candidates both Republican and Democrat.

“The incident of course concerns our newspaper, free press, and my own circulation of information concerning my federal candidacy and that of others when you have a public official threatening or attempting to block a newspaper containing these items from being freely circulated,” Larry Crim says.

 

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