[F]our former Vermont attorneys general have joined in encouraging the public to condemn hate.
The onetime officials were among a bipartisan group of more than five dozen former state attorneys general nationwide who signed on to a statement calling for moral courage.
The statement, which is not addressed to any individual or group, comes in the wake of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. One woman was killed and 19 others injured when a car drove into a crowd of counterprotesters.
The event and President Donald Trump’s public comments in its aftermath sparked nationwide controversy.
“There are times in the life of a nation, or a president, or a state attorney general when one is called upon to respond directly to the voice of hate,” the statement reads. “As former state attorneys general, we take the liberty of reminding Americans — as we remind ourselves — that events can call out the worst in us — and the best.”
The statement references Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, who in 1971 began prosecuting the bombing of a Birmingham church eight years earlier that left four girls dead.
“He faced political furor, lack of cooperation from federal and state government agencies and constant threats of physical violence and death,” the statement reads. “But he persisted.”
In 1976, Edward Fields, grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, wrote a threatening letter to Baxley concerning the church bombing and demanded a response. Baxley responded curtly:
“My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is — kiss my ass.”
In the statement issued this week, the group of attorneys general brought Baxley’s letter “to the attention of all who seek to equivocate in times of moral crisis.”
Former Vermont Attorney General and Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy wrote the statement and was part of the group that organized its release.
Amestoy said Wednesday that when he read Baxley’s 1976 letter, it was a reminder that “the worst of times sometimes calls out the best in people.”
“We weren’t trying to make a political statement as such. We were trying to make a statement about what is necessary to do when moral crisis arises,” Amestoy said.
Three other former Vermont attorneys general were among the 67 signatories: William Sorrell, John Easton and Jerry Diamond.
