Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 1, 1995 TAG: 9508010079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``My family and I have an agreement that under no circumstances will I drop out of the campaign. We're not going to bow down,'' Artis said at a news conference.
``Let me say that I do not believe in any way, shape or form that the Thomas campaign has anything to do with these incidents.''
Artis, a former in-school suspension teacher at Patrick Henry High School, is vying for the seat of Democrat Victor Thomas of Roanoke.
The threats he was referring to were two anonymous phone calls. The first came in April, just after it was reported that Artis was contemplating running. The second came a month later when he formally announced his candidacy.
``Both times, an unidentified person has called my house and has told me, `Ain't no nigger gonna beat Vic Thomas. You won't be around on Election Day.'''
There have been other forms of harassment, Artis said.
In one case, a student at Patrick Henry told Artis' son that ``his father was going to get a gun and blow me away,'' Artis said.
More recently, Artis' car was vandalized outside his Southeast Roanoke home.
At the news conference, Artis was flanked by local Republican Party officials.
``The Republican Party is well aware of what's going on, and we're standing behind him,'' said Ron Adkins, vice chairman of the Roanoke County Republicans. Adkins, who has been active in the party for more than 20 years, said, ``I can't think of anything we've had like this here.''
The threats and vandalism have been reported to Roanoke police.
In the meanwhile, Artis said, he will not let intimidation tactics stop his campaign.
``We knew something like this could happen,'' he said. ``I'm not going to crawl in a hole.''
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB