#3 We NEED names.
Clicking through to the article, Clusock Stalin8114, which takes several steps, yields this:
Van Drew disclosed the threat at a news conference outside the courthouse on Main Street, flanked by Cape May County Sheriff Bob Nolan, and identified the columnist as John McCall of the Ocean City Sentinel.
McCall is not and never has been either a staff member or paid contributor, the newspaper's editor and publisher stated in an email later Monday.
According to a transcript of the voicemail provided to reporters at the news conference, McCall reportedly called the congressman a traitor and vowed to see Van Drew out of office.
“I would swear to your demise as a politician and I believe that you personally are a degenerate," the transcript read. "As a member of the New Jersey Press Association, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are deposed if not dead. Anything I can do to basically get you out of office, I will do. You are a traitor Jeff Van Drew and you deserve the fate of all traitors.”
On Monday afternoon, David Nahan, editor and publisher of the Sentinel, issued a statement by email clarifying that McCall is "a local resident and freelance journalist who periodically submits guest columns and letters to the editor."
McCall is not a staff reporter or paid contributor but wrote a guest column for the publication, he said.
The New Jersey Press Association denies McCall is or ever was a member.
President Paul D'Ambrosio said the association is a nonprofit incorporated in 1857 under New Jersey law. Its membership comprises daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, affiliate newspapers, digital news websites, as well as corporate and non-profit associate members, he said.
"NJPA understands that John McCall asserted he is a member of NJPA," D'Ambrosio said. "John McCall is not and has never been a member of NJPA, as the association does not have individual journalist members.."
"Because you felt threatened and felt your wife was threatened, I am sorry," Nahan said. "There are no two ways about that. I blame that on my judgment. I knew in advance that the guest column was vitriolic and highly critical of you and your support for the former president. The way it was written, I do not believe it contains any threats of harm because if I did, I would not have allowed it to appear in my newspaper."
At the news conference, the congressman read from recent published columns by McCall.
In one March 10 column, McCall states about Van Drew, “And as a traitor, he has forfeit this right to protection under the law. Know this V.D.: It doesn’t stop here. ... God save you.”
McCall also recently wrote speculatively about sexually assaulting the congressman’s wife and storming his house to “violate his family.”
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Van Drew said legal action against the newspaper, which sent a reporter to the conference, is possible.
“I’m not looking at any legal options for Mr. McCall,” he said. “I mean, he obviously has a problem. He’s obviously somebody that’s going to have to be monitored."
McCall, an Ocean City resident, could not be reached for comment. |
