From: BILL
Email: BHORNSEY@BRGOV.COM
Date: 7/30/03
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Bill, don't know if you've seen this. It's the latest from PeeWee in the Livingston Parish News. Check it out. We might want to email the Plaquemines Parish sheriffs office for updates. What do you think? Marty
Potpourri: BASS Tourney incident nothing new By Pee Wee Day Aug. 14, 2003
There are two things I want to share with you right up front.
Number one: if you’re tired of hearing about the shooting in the marsh surrounding the recently held Bassmasters Classic, put this down and return to your “honey-do” list.
Number two: thanks to Larry Hall of Columbus, Ga. for the e-mail. I’ve finally made the big time!
Finding information about the “investigation” into the firing of a shotgun in the direction of pro bass fisherman Gary Klein is becoming more difficult. Apparently, the local law enforcement handling the case is very close-mouthed and, with the exception of several statements concerning the passing of an ESPN tape, I have heard very little.
Several comments from the spokesman in Plaquemines Parish right after the incident described the alleged shooter as “harmless” and several other nice adjectives. Not so sure the persons at the other end of the shotgun would agree!
What really upset me was a conversation I heard on a local talk show at night a few weeks ago. I was driving home and passed a friend and fellow fisherman, Mac Millet, as he was walking and asked him to listen to this with me. Someone from Shreveport, that’s right, Shreveport was calling in and saying that this just had to be an isolated incident. No one would do that in the marsh unless he was provoked.
I hate to tell you, Shreveport person, but this was no isolated incident. Although I have never had shots fired at me, I have been threatened. My boat has been mounted. People have given me very serious warnings and I have seen many, many hate signs posted in what I deem to be public waters. This, my friends, is no isolated incident. It has been going on for over 30 years that I know of.
Thank goodness it has now happened to someone on the national scene. Thank goodness they have it on tape and hopefully will show it to the nation, exposing some of the trash that exists in this area. Should the book be thrown at this shooter and also the idiot in the airboat who showered two of the pros? You bet it should. Actually, attempted murder needs to be charged in the first incident.
Did the pros provoke this? I don’t know. In instances like this, you call the law, not take the law into your own hands.
My boat was mounted one time by an older man and a younger man in the marsh. I was fishing with Dr. Rick Keeton and, from out of nowhere, this boat appeared and ran into me as we fished along a canal. The older gentlemen stepped into my boat and demanded to see our fish. You bet we left!
I reported it to the authorities and was informed that maybe I should have used a .357. It would have been justified since he didn’t identify himself. I may have feared for my life. That’s really the way to settle things isn’t it?
Onto my second point. I received an e-mail from Georgia thanking me for addressing the problems of the Classic and agreeing with me that something must be done or the Classic choose not to return to Louisiana. This gentleman had read my article on the “Bass Fishing Homepage” at www.wmi.org.
In fact, Mr. Hall indicated that I have lots of new fans in that area. Maybe my esteemed publisher, Jeff David, needs to send applications for new subscribers to Columbus!
As far as what you folks in Georgia can do, I don’t know. Right now it’s a local case and maybe, just maybe, sometime in the future our state government will choose to get involved with the problem of posting in navigable waterways. Then, you can send e-mails and such. However, since a lot of this is public record, you may want to e-mail the sheriffs office in Plaquemines Parish to seek updates on what they are doing to prosecute this person to the upper limits of the law.
The Classic brings many, many tourist dollars to this state, especially the New Orleans area. I would hope tourist commissions, mayors of local cities, fishermen, fans who enjoy the classic and just plain ole interested citizens will get involved and keep the heat on. I know the local talk show hosts and Baton Rouge outdoor writers are doing their share of asking questions, but you folks need to also ask your own questions.
God Bless America!
Pee Wee Day is a longtime Denham Springs sports enthusiast, businessman and sportswriter.
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