Feds called for controversial coffin

By William R. Toler

When Bill Harper arrived to pick up his coffin Saturday morning, he didn’t find it.

Instead, Harper found a representative from the NAACP, according to Michael Speciale, Craven County GOP chairman, who believes the involvement of the civil rights organization may have intimidated Sheriff Jerry Monette to fail to keep his word.

Over the weekend, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, state chairman of the NAACP, released a statement calling the coffin “threatening” because it had an anti-Obama bumper sticker on it. Barber added, “There is no telling how many voters it had frightened away.  It appeared to be an obvious threat to Sen. Obama—a warning to him to stay away from North Carolina.”