1634507517 (N) by Carole Townsend

Author:Carole Townsend [Townsend, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2016-04-11T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Smoke, Mirrors, and Conspiracies

(1978)

THE MELEE THAT followed the ambush-style shooting of Larry Flynt and Gene Reeves was multi-layered, and it only grew more complicated as the weeks and months passed. The media, already camped outside the courthouse in Gwinnett because of the obscenity trial and its flashy defendant, called in reinforcements following the shooting. Who would do such a thing, and in broad daylight in a busy little town? Had it been a contract killing? Perhaps a religious fanatic had taken it upon himself to cut down Flynt, who they saw as a foul-mouthed sex peddler, before he could gain any more ground in what many perceived to be a clear fight between good and evil. Some had even put forth the notion that the actual target had been Gene Reeves, but no one in his right mind bought that theory, even for a minute. There were those who believed that a white supremacy group, perhaps the Klan, had ordered Flynt’s execution. There was good reason to draw that conclusion. The Klan had been very clear on its opinion of Larry Flynt, Hustler, pornography, and race-mixing. Shortly after the December 1975 spread ran in Hustler, the magazine printed this “Letter to the Editor” in a later issue:

“We write to inform you of our absolute disgust with your magazine. HUSTLER is a complete disgrace to the moral fiber of Caucasian Civilization. Think—we as a nation and race have advanced to the point where we produce, as well as allow sale of, such utter trash. We are referring to the ‘Black Stud and His Georgia Peach’ feature in your December 1975 issue. No wonder you talk of your periodical’s difficulty in obtaining advertisers! We most certainly would not post an ad with you; we have more class than to degrade ourselves to your gutter level of degeneracy.

“We seriously doubt that you will have the courtesy to print this letter, for from your apparent caliber it is to be expected that you will not. Just remember that this nation was not built by cheap women, whore-mongers and race-mixers, but instead by hard-working Christian Caucasians.”

The letter was signed by the National Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Realm of Georgia, Fayette Kounty Klavern.

The flamboyant porn baron was a hated man in some circles. Speculation about who had tried to kill him was the order of the day, and Larry Flynt led the charge on that front, posing several juicy conspiracies as possible reasons for the brutal attack.

In the days immediately following the shooting, Judge G. Hughell Howell (Hughell, to those who knew him) declared a mistrial in light of the unusual circumstances. There was a rumor circulating, one that persists among some even today, that Howell declared the mistrial in exchange for Flynt paying all of Reeves’s medical bills that resulted from the attack. Flynt did that, but Reeves and those who knew him well believe that he did so because he felt that it was the decent thing to do, not because of a back room deal made with a judge.

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