April 30, 2009
Outspoken Government Critic Says He Received Visit from FBI, Secret Service
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Tom McCallister has been a thorn in the side of many city administrations. In fact, one mayor had him removed from council chambers, only to then lose a first amendment federal court suit filed by the victim of the removal. He’s been on the charter committee, served on council, patched up the former Olympic Pool, and pushed the patience of many a council chair during Good & Welfare.
However, around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, April 29, 2009, the ardent city loud-mouth and former independent candidate for Mayor of Huntington received an unwelcome and mostly unexplained visit: The F.B.I. and a U.S. Secret Service Agent.
“Why would the Secret Service be in Huntington,” McCallister told HNN by phone.
But a gold Ford SUV stopped at his house and the men who exited all had official credentials.
Labeling himself “flabbergasted,” McCallister sat , listened and talked to them for about fifteen minutes, he said. They asked lots of questions about what was going on in his life.
McCallister told HNN that an official received a call, perhaps, concerning a comment he made on the Tom Rotan early morning radio talk show.
While speaking on the phone, the constant governmental complainer seemed verbally chilled.
“That’s seriously scary,” McCallister said, adding that the officials were “not from here,” as he knows the representatives from Huntington and Pittsburgh.
Despite what he termed a “scary proposition,” he admitted he asked if they had “watched ‘24’ lately.”
Declaring “free speech no longer there,” McCallister indicated everyone must “be careful what you say concerning Obama. They are really touchy.”
Still, he would not elaborate on the alleged statement, “who knows , I don’t have a clue.” He does recall criticizing the Air Force One photo opportunity fly-by in New York City, but, otherwise, he seemed clueless and shaken. “I don’t want to deal with these people,” he said, then pondered whether at some time in the future the U.S. will start holding, in his terms, “political prisoners.”
In any event, the visitors told Tom that he had not committed a crime and that he did not have to speak with them.
And, McCallister indicated he will be speaking about his unnerving experience on Tom Rotan’s radio talk show.
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Outspoken Government Critic Says He Received Visit from FBI, Secret Service
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Tom McCallister has been a thorn in the side of many city administrations. In fact, one mayor had him removed from council chambers, only to then lose a first amendment federal court suit filed by the victim of the removal. He’s been on the charter committee, served on council, patched up the former Olympic Pool, and pushed the patience of many a council chair during Good & Welfare.
However, around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, April 29, 2009, the ardent city loud-mouth and former independent candidate for Mayor of Huntington received an unwelcome and mostly unexplained visit: The F.B.I. and a U.S. Secret Service Agent.
“Why would the Secret Service be in Huntington,” McCallister told HNN by phone.
But a gold Ford SUV stopped at his house and the men who exited all had official credentials.
Labeling himself “flabbergasted,” McCallister sat , listened and talked to them for about fifteen minutes, he said. They asked lots of questions about what was going on in his life.
McCallister told HNN that an official received a call, perhaps, concerning a comment he made on the Tom Rotan early morning radio talk show.
While speaking on the phone, the constant governmental complainer seemed verbally chilled.
“That’s seriously scary,” McCallister said, adding that the officials were “not from here,” as he knows the representatives from Huntington and Pittsburgh.
Despite what he termed a “scary proposition,” he admitted he asked if they had “watched ‘24’ lately.”
Declaring “free speech no longer there,” McCallister indicated everyone must “be careful what you say concerning Obama. They are really touchy.”
Still, he would not elaborate on the alleged statement, “who knows , I don’t have a clue.” He does recall criticizing the Air Force One photo opportunity fly-by in New York City, but, otherwise, he seemed clueless and shaken. “I don’t want to deal with these people,” he said, then pondered whether at some time in the future the U.S. will start holding, in his terms, “political prisoners.”
In any event, the visitors told Tom that he had not committed a crime and that he did not have to speak with them.
And, McCallister indicated he will be speaking about his unnerving experience on Tom Rotan’s radio talk show.
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Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
