Attorney General Steven Rowe has encouraged people to come forward with direct knowledge of a widely reported sign in the Oak Hill General Store in Standish that asked patrons to predict the date of an attack on President-elect Barack Obama.
And, unless new evidence surfaces, neither the attorney general’s office nor the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office will press charges against store owner Steve Collins.
“Regardless of whether a violation of the Maine Civil Rights Act has occurred, it is critical that Maine people speak up quickly and forcefully when words or acts of hate and bigotry are directed at others,” Rowe wrote in a Nov. 22 press release.
At a special Town Council meeting Nov. 20, residents and elected officials denounced the “Obama shotgun pool” sign, which has made international news as an example of acts of racism around the country following the election of Obama. Other residents defended Collins, who did not attend the meeting.
Residents who know Collins and his business said he was a generous man and the sign was a joke in poor taste that had been blown out of proportion.
“I am against racism, but I do like Steve,” said Mary Hicks, 80, after the meeting.
Hicks owns the building where the general store operates and said Collins has been a good tenant for the more than 15 years he has operated there. She said the news of the incident had deeply upset her.
Before the election Nov. 4, Hicks said, Collins told her of his plans to go hunting in northern Maine. The store appears to have closed soon after the sign was spotted by reporters on Nov. 7, and a sign in the window now reads, “Gone fishing.” Calls to the store went unanswered Monday and Tuesday.
Reports of the existence of the pool predicting violence against Obama have prompted condemnation from public officials. Local legislators are planning to sponsor a state resolution denouncing acts of hate against any person.
Two Associated Press journalists reported the sign to Town Manager Gordon Billington, who contacted the attorney general’s office and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s office. When deputies arrived at the store, the sign was not present, and Collins denied any knowledge of it.
The attorney general enforces the Maine Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal to commit an act of violence or threat of violence motivated by bias based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, religion, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation. If evidence surfaces proving that the civil rights act had been violated, the attorney general would proceed with a civil action.
The Associated Press report led many people to write to Billington to express their disgust. A Pennsylvania man wrote an e-mail saying he was now ashamed to admit he was born in Maine, after hearing about the sign.
“Fostering hate is a cancer that spreads far and wide,” Wayne Goodwin wrote.
Other Maine residents wrote that they planned to avoid visiting Standish in the future.
The Standish Town Council unanimously passed a resolution on Nov. 20 condemning the sign.
“We want to go on record to express our condemnation of this despicable act,” said Wayne Newbegin, Town Council chairman.
More than 50 people gathered at the meeting, including a student at St. Joseph’s College who created a Facebook page titled “Stop the Hate at Oak Hill General Store.” Kaitlyn Cunningham, 21, said more than 400 people have joined the group from all over the country.
Cunningham said she was discouraged to hear the news of the sign. “As a student, I see the future of our country,” Cunningham said. “Our country should be moving forward, not backward.”
But regular customer of the Oak Hill General Store, Stacy Bulgajewski, said Collins was a giving and personable man.
“I think we’re totally crucifying him,” Bulgajewski said. “I believe it’s a joke in poor taste.” Neither Bulgajewski nor her partner, Steve Westman, had seen the sign, though they visit the store regularly.
“I think this is being blown way out of proportion,” Westman said after the meeting. “He needs to make a living too.”
Planning Board member Gus Favreau of Steep Falls said he came to the meeting on behalf of his two bi-racial grandchildren.
“I believe we as individuals teach through actions,” Favreau said. “I want to let my grandchildren know at least, if no one else, that that kind of behavior is abhorrent to people of good will, throughout Standish and throughout the country.”
Representatives from the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also attended the meeting, as well as Sheriff Mark Dion and state legislators.
“We feel the best way to respond to this incident is to speak out loudly and clearly, and we hope you will do the same,” Newbegin said.
Stacy Bulgajewski spoke as a regular customer of the Oak Hill General Store at a Special Town Council meeting in Standish on Nov. 20. She said the sign advertising a pool to predict a date of violence against President-elect Barack Obama was a joke in poor taste, but store owner Steve Collins was a generous man.
A “gone fishing” sign hangs in the door of the Oak Hill General Store Nov. 20, directly after a Special Town Meeting held to denounce an “Obama shotgun pool” reportedly held at the store.
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