GREELEY — A Greeley school-board member said Monday he will continue to air a letter on his radio station that calls slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. an embezzler and sexual degenerate.
And there is nothing anybody can do legally to stop Brett Reese.
"I think his demagoguery is protected under free speech," said Bruce Broderius, another member of the Greeley-Evans School District 6 board.
Reese, who frequently criticizes other members of the board and the district, said the letter was given to his station — KELS-FM 104.7 — by an anonymous listener three years ago. He made a recording of the letter and has played it in the days leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is on Monday.
The letter makes an array of claims about King and calls him a degenerate and an "American-hating communist."
The letter didn't get much attention until he became a member of the school board in 2009, Reese said. "If all the criticism I'm taking is just because what I'm doing is not necessarily politically correct, then this society is in bad shape," Reese said.
Reese said he has nothing against the civil-rights movement. He said he's just concerned that King has been "deified" in our culture.
"I was taught growing up that Dr. King was this hero of history and to question him or anything about him was near sacrilege," Reese said.
He told the Greeley Tribune he's received death threats since the letter got aired, and his station has been losing about $1,000 a day in sponsorship.
School-board members contacted Monday said Reese does not represent them, the school district or Greeley. But the district cannot prevent him from airing the letter.
"The community will have to evaluate him on his merits," said school-board president Linda Trimberger.
Pirate Radio is licensed by the FCC as a low-power station, but the agency has no authority to regulate what it airs, unless it is considered indecent, said First Amendment attorney Kathleen Kirby. "Typically the FCC doesn't get into judgments over a station's content because that would be a First Amendment violation."
The Anti-Defamation League said Monday the letter contains material that appears verbatim in websites run by extremists and white supremacists. "The reckless and irresponsible spread of such misleading vitriol only heightens the divisions in our communities at a time when we should be finding ways to diminish, not increase hateful rhetoric in public debate," said ADL regional director Scott Levin.
Levin asked Reese to stop broadcasting the letter. Reese said he will continue to air it until Monday.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
