The Robesonian takeover
On February 1, 1988, two armed Tuscarora men, Eddie Hatcher and Timothy Jacobs, took hostages in the offices of The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton, Robeson County, North Carolina.
Hatcher believed he had evidence of corruption in the local justice system and, fearing for his life, enlisted the aid of Jacobs to try to raise awareness about his concerns.
The two held the staff of the county daily newspaper hostage for 10 hours before extracting an agreement from North Carolina Governor James G. Martin to investigate corruption allegations in Robeson.
Martin appointed a task force to field their allegations, but the two ceased cooperating with the state officials after they refused to secure their immunity from prosecution.
[1][4] The Robeson County Sheriff, Hubert Stone, worked closely with District Attorney Joe Freeman Britt to prosecute narcotics-related offenses.
[5] Public concerns of corruption among Robeson County law enforcement officials arose in August 1986, when cocaine was taken from an evidence locker in the sheriff's office.
[1] Concern was levied directly at Sheriff Stone when he appeared as a character witness in a 1985 trial for a local man charged with cocaine dealing and wrote a letter asking for the release of another who had purchased large quantities of marijuana from undercover federal agents.
[6] On November 1, 1986, Kevin Stone—a sheriff's deputy and the son of the sheriff—shot and killed Jimmy Earl Cummings, an unarmed Lumbee man, during a traffic stop.
[13] That month a black asthmatic, Billy McKellar, died in the Robeson County jail after falling ill and not receiving medical attention.
[14] The two decided to take the staff of a newspaper—The Robesonian—hostage to raise publicity for their concerns and protect Hatcher from anticipated retribution for his alleged insight into local drug dealing.
[19] Hatcher and Jacobs also felt that the paper's mirrored office windows would offer them a strategic advantage in a siege, allowing them to see outside but preventing onlookers from seeing in.
[14] Hatcher wrote his will the night before the takeover,[20] while Jacobs told his professors at Pembroke State University that he would be missing class due to an impending "emergency".
After consulting with Lumberton police, Rose called back and spoke with Hatcher, who asked that a federal investigation be opened into local corruption.
[27] Hatcher and Jacobs demanded to speak directly with North Carolina Governor James G. Martin, who refused to do so for fear of setting a precedent.
[28] Instead, Martin's chief of staff, Phil Kirk, negotiated on the governor's behalf via phone from the State Highway Patrol commander's office in Raleigh.
"[36] This quickly ended when Brayboy began actively campaigning and raising money for the two, leading Horne to condemn her actions as unprofessional for a journalist.
[37] Within Robeson County, views on the siege were divided; some believed it was a necessary act to bring attention to the corruption allegations, while others thought it was dangerous and unproductive.
[39] Alarmed by the situation, the American Indian Movement and the National Council of Churches dispatched representatives to Robeson County to study the region's drug trade.
[40] To comply with Hatcher's and Jacobs' demands, Martin assembled a three-man task force to investigate their allegations, comprising Kirk, governor's general counsel Jim Trotter, and Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety Joe Dean.
[39] At Hatcher's request, the task force met with Hunt on February 9, and forwarded information he had provided on drug dealing to a United States Attorney.
The report concluded that Indians were arrested and incarcerated at more frequent rates than whites, and stated that many interviewees said they lacked trust in county law enforcement.
[49] The Robesonian initially assigned crime reporter Mike Mangiameli, who had been a hostage, to cover the federal proceedings for Hatcher and Jacobs.
Jacobs surrendered himself to federal authorities the following day,[50] while Hatcher went to Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill and asked his friend and store owner, Bob Sheldon, for help.
[49] The federal trial for Hatcher and Jacobs began on September 26 after Judge Terrence Boyle refused to postpone it to allow Kunstler—who was busy working on a case elsewhere—to attend.
When the defense began its arguments, Boyle limited their testimony to the events of February 1 and the immediately proceeding days, thus preventing them from calling up dozens of witnesses.
[53] On his last day in office as district attorney, December 6, 1988, Britt convinced a Robeson County grand jury to indict Hatcher and Jacobs on 14 charges each of second-degree kidnapping.
In February 1994 Jacobs denounced Hatcher as "not the same person" he was in 1988 and criticized him for attacking the Lumbee Regional Development Association and making exaggerated claims about corruption to garner media attention.
Jacobs asserted that Hatcher's words worsened race relations in the county, discouraged regional economic investment, and made it harder for him to personally find employment.
[63][64][65] The largest police corruption investigation in North Carolina's history, the operation led to 22 officers, including Sheriff Glenn Maynor, pleading guilty to a variety of charges.
[66] Jacobs and Johnson Britt later opined that the siege created a political opening in the county which eventually led to improvements in race relations and increases in minority representation in local government.
