Did Huckabee Cash In on School Shooting?

Emotions still frayed from book deal after 1998 Jonesboro killings
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 26, 2008 3:18 PM CST
Did Huckabee Cash In on School Shooting?
Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee talks to supporters, church officials and the media during a campaign stop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)   (Associated Press)

The crime shook Arkansas: Two boys, 11 and 13, killed four classmates and a teacher in 1998 in what became known as the Jonesboro shootings. Within days, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee had a $25,000 book deal about youth violence. A decade later, the deal still rankles some who say the governor cashed in on tragedy, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Critics saw the episode as unseemly—and typical of Huckabee. A lawyer who represented victims' families said Huckabee "never saw a gift he didn't take." Editorials called him a "money-grubbing governor" and "Mike the Huckster." Huckabee has defended his book, Kids who Kill, saying it was conceived before the shootings, and wasn't about Jonesboro per se. (More Mike Huckabee stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X