FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday/June 30, 2015
Contact: Steve Hindi, SHARK, 630/640-1889 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Confederate Flag/Pigeon-Shooting PA Judge Featured at PA Capitol Press Conference on Tuesday; Watchdog Calls for Gov. to Oust Judge
HARRISBURG, PA – A large poster and undercover video of a Pennsylvania judge shooting pigeons in front of a Confederate flag will be the focus of a news conference here Tuesday/June 30 in the Rotunda of the State Capitol at 11:30 a.m.
An international watchdog group is calling for the Governor to oust Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas judge Adolph Antanavage after video resurfaced of the judge standing next the Confederate flag.
Animal protection watchdog SHARK caught Antanavage on video as he was filmed killing pigeons at a cruel and illegal event in 2013 in front of the Confederate flag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Jh2aG4MqY
The judge refused to respond to the public and media about why he shot pigeons in front of a Confederate flag.
"Part of 'Black Lives Matter' means there has to be real justice, and that requires judges possessing character and honor. Judge Antanavage, a man who shoots pigeons tossed out of boxes in front of a Confederate flag, has heard cases involving people of color. That’s not justice. I can’t imagine how a state can allow this outrage in the 21st century. Judge Antanavage is hearing cases of people of color. How can this judge be expected to fairly preside over this case, given his allowance of a Confederate flag?" said SHARK president Steve Hindi.
"In Pennsylvania, the National park Service has asked Gettysburg to remove Confederate flag items and even a Berks County flag maker has chosen to stop manufacturing the flag. The consensus is becoming clearer by the day; the flag is a symbol of hate. A sitting judge who enjoyed killing in front of the confederate flag has no place deciding the fate of people who are the targets of hate and bigotry.
"Most people would be outraged if they were at an event in Pennsylvania and the Confederate flag was flying so close by. But Antanavage doesn't seem to mind at all. You might hope that anyone who would slaughter birds for fun and do it in front of a confederate flag no less would never be given a position of power but you'd be wrong," said Hindi.
"Our mission at SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness) overlaps efforts to help the environment or humans. The Confederate flag is a symbol bigotry and oppression. We don't want someone like Antanavage, who leisures in front of the Confederate flag, making decisions about the lives of people who will come before him. A judge cannot hold his office with that much staining him," said Hindi.
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