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The Dallas Morning News October 30, 2004
Copyright 2004 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
By Terry Blount
DALLAS _ A law firm representing NASCAR has accused Addison, Texas,
businessman John Eckerd of helping to plan staged racial incidents at a
NASCAR event this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Eckerd,
whom NASCAR officials claim is a financial backer of the National
Association for Minority Race Fans, disputed the claim.
"This
is absolutely absurd and totally baseless," Eckerd said. "These are
very serious accusations, and we will not take this lying down."
The
Atlanta-based law firm of Alston & Bird accused Eckerd in a letter
of conspiring with associates at Consolidated Sports Media Group, Inc.,
and the NAMRF to hire a white male actor to play a NASCAR fan inciting
a fight with a black actor posing as a NASCAR protester. The letter
claims the actors hoped to get arrested so the incident could be
videotaped.
The attorneys also claim an
actress would falsely claim to have been raped or sexually assaulted at
a NASCAR sponsored event. The letter states law enforcement officials
have been notified of the plan in order to protect fans.
Eckerd
said he isn't affiliated with Consolidated Sports Media Group, but he
is an independent consultant arranging financial backers for a
documentary film NAMRF is producing.
NAMRF
director Jirard Brown and NAMRF director of communications Rusty Thomas
sent an e-mail to media Friday disputing the letter's claims.
"The
National Association for Minority Race Fans is appalled by the
outrageous falsehoods presented as fact," Thomas wrote in the e-mail.
We
have signed affidavits from members confirming no one involved with
NAMRF at any level has discussed intentionally creating or causing a
violent incident at a race.
"On the
contrary, NAMRF remains committed to its mission of making NASCAR races
safe for all races. NASCAR is engaging in despicable and unlawful
conduct. NAMRF will not be intimidated by NASCAR's unscrupulous ploys."
NAMRF is producing a documentary film, which it plans to release Feb.
20, which it claims will show racism makes NASCAR events unsafe for
minorities and women.
Excerpts from the film are being shown on the NAMRF Web site.
The
letter from the NASCAR law firm also claims Eckerd and his associates
hope to distribute the film for profit, "featuring unauthorized footage
taken at NASCAR events, misleadingly edited to depict alleged racial and gender discrimination that did not actually occur."
Eckerd
also disputes those claims: "I have seen hundreds of hours of this
footage. To say people will be shocked is an enormous understatement."
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(c) 2004, The Dallas Morning News.