Sharpton Ups Security
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NEW YORK (AP) – Threats to kill the Reveremd Al Sharpton in response to his campaign to have Don Imus fired after the radio shock jock made racist remarks have led the civil rights leader to increase his security efforts.
“We have received several threats that we consider serious,” Reverend Sharpton told the Daily News in Sunday’s edition. “I have been stabbed once, so we don’t take anything too lightly.”
He was referring to a 1991 incident when he was stabbed in the chest during a protest in Brooklyn.
Charlie King, acting executive director of Sharpton’s National Action Network, said that one caller telephoned the civil rights leader’s radio show Saturday on WLIB-AM, threatening to “hunt him down and shoot him like an animal.”
The police confirmed that they had an increased presence in the vicinity of Reverend Sharpton’s church in Harlem and his staff.
Reverend Sharpton became one of Imus’ most vocal critics after the veteran broadcaster used a racial slur while referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team. CBS fired Imus on Friday for calling the team “nappy-headed hos” on his show last week.
