RFK in Oregon 1968244.JPG

In this 1968 photo provided by the Douglas County Museum, Robert F. Kennedy speaks to a crowd outside the Douglas County Courthouse during a campaign stop in Roseburg, Ore. Kennedy was booed when he used the speech to call for tighter gun restrictions.

(Douglas County Museum via AP)

Updated: 1:46 p.m.

On Friday afternoon, the newspaper took the letter down and posted a note saying: "After reviewing our guidelines, which clearly state not to threaten the harm of another individual, we removed the letter. We apologize."

On Wednesday, a newspaper based in Roseburg published a letter to the editor online and in print suggesting that dozens of protesters should be shot and buried at sea.

The letter, signed by Terry Stafford of Riddle who we were unable to reach, does not clearly state which protesters should be shot but it was published several days after the Women's March on Washington and its satellite marches across the world. There was no march in Roseburg, but people from the area did participate in the Portland Women's March.





Letter in The News-Review

The letter appeared in the "Public Forum" section of The News-Review, "the daily newspaper for Douglas County," under the heading, "Working, tax-paying citizens they are not."

"Protests and protestors [sic] have been around for a long time," reads the letter. "Socialists never rest. They ruined Russia, Greece and England, among others. We can expect to see their best efforts to bring down the United States continuing."

Stafford goes on to write about the Kent State massacre, saying, "The National Guard was brought in, fired on the 'peaceful student' protestors [sic]. A news photographer took a great photo of a grieving young woman at the body of a young man."

"Further investigation found they were not students but paid rabble-rousers," Stafford continues.

There is no evidence that this is true. Four people were killed, and nine wounded, during the shooting by members of the Ohio National Guard on Kent State students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4, 1970. All were students in good standing at the university.

"How about we shoot a few of this year's crop -- say a dozen at each protest to see how many were bussed [sic] in, paid well," Stafford writes. "Of course, we will give all samples an absolutely free same-day burial at sea."

"Working, tax-paying citizens they are not," he concluded.

The Women's March, it should be noted, was held on a Saturday, and there is also no evidence that those marchers were paid. There were no arrests at the Women's March in Portland, or in Washington, D.C.

Stafford's letter was printed in the newspaper and published online, where some commenters disagreed with the choice to publish the letter

"Especially in a community which has suffered so much from gun violence," wrote Observer72, "I cannot believe that the News Review has printed a letter so blatantly urging deadly assault on anyone who protests."

On Oct. 1, 2015, Chris Harper-Mercer opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, killing nine people, wounding eight, and then killing himself.

The paper allows readers to submit letters to the editor using an online form. In the instructions to submit, the paper writes: "Letters considered libelous or in poor taste will not be published."

The guidelines for the comments section is more specific and says, "Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated."

It also says: "Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person."

We reached out to Craig Reed, the managing editor of The News-Review, but he chose not to comment for this story. We've also reached out to the general manager of the paper, Tim Smith, and to Stafford, the letter's author. We will update if either chooses to comment.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker