[Sabertooth]

Full audio here:

http://swc2.hccs.cc.tx.us/rmorecook/afvnnewsjerryelliott.ram

I came across this old radio broadcast reporting the shooting of Senator John C. Stennis in 1973. There's been curiousity about the status of the shooters, since Stennis' name has turned up in recent revelations of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War's assassination plot against six U.S. Senators in November of 1971, called the Phoenix Project.

I figured the broadcast was worth transcribing.

Information on the shooting of Senator Stennis is sparse. Here are a few links:

Several years ago, the late United States Senator John Stennis of Mississippi was shot during an attempted robbery in front of his Washington, D.C. home.  One of the first persons to rush to his bedside was Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon.  The reported story of their friendship amazed many students of politics.  Mark Hatfield was a liberal Republican and outspoken critic of the Vietnam War.  John Stennis was a conservative Democrat and one of the war's staunchest supporters.
Faith in Politics
Paul Hillegonds | Fifth Annual Henry Lecture
Calvin College | April 30, 2001

Senator Stennis' unselfish achievements during his long years of hard work did not come without great adversity. In 1973 he was shot twice during a holdup attempt in his front yard in northwest Washington, D. C. Although doctors didn't at first give much hope of Senator Stennis' survival, then later of ever walking again, he surprised practically everyone and recovered almost completely. He said his chief thought during those doubtful days was, "Would I be useful?" Senator Stennis' dedication and commitment to duty would not allow him to stop or slow down.
U.S. Senator John C. Stennis
www.ssc.nasa.gov/about/history/stennis

This is a weird one, apparently from a foreign language reading comprehension test, but it basically fits with my recollection...

Senator Stennis was the victim of a classic street crime. He happened to be an important politician, but that is not why he was shot. What happened to him could happen to anyone else.

Senator Stennis, Who is 71, Got out of his white car at 7:40 p.m. , outside his home at 3609 Cumberland Street. Two youths said, "Get them up." He put up no resistance. He handed over his wallet containing credit cards, driver's license, and the like, a gold watch and all the cash he had in his pockets-- twenty-five cents. The youths said, " Get them up." He put up no resistance. He handed over his wallet containing credit cards, driver's license, and the like, a gold watch and all the cash he had in his pockets¬ótwenty-five cents. The youths said either "Now we're going to shoot you any way," or "We ought to shoot you anyway." Anyway they did. One bullet hit him in the thigh and struck the bone, and the other entered his chest just below the breast pocket of his suit. It narrowly missed his heart.

Senator Stennis is a powerful political figure, but it is unlikely that the two young men knew who he was.

More likely his offense was that he had no more cash than a quarter¬ónot enough for a taking of drugs or two cups of coffee.
LINK

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this last link. One has to sort through a lot of Bildeburger & Illuminati tinfoil when researching assassinations or attacks on government officials. I'm including it only because it claims that there were convictions in the shooting of Senator Stennis.

Robert Olsen of the Rockefeller Commission reported that "HUNT categorically denied...any participation or involvement whatever in the attempted assassination of Governor Wallace, the disappearance of Congressman Hale Boggs or the shooting of Senator Stennis." [NARA SSCIA 157-10011-10090] Senator Stennis was shot on January 31, 1973, in front of his home in the capital during an apparent robbery. Three black men were convicted of this crime. There was no political motive.
http://www.ajweberman.com/nodules/nodule23.htm

[archy]

I believe I'll post this on a few of the other threads relating to the VVAW Phoenix operation, along with a link back here.

The timing looks to be such that when Kerry and other VVAW members backed away from the plan, the North Vietnamese may have had to shop around a while for someone to do their dirty work for them. Come to think of it, I believe General Westmoreland's wife and kids- daughter Kitsy in particular- acquired bodyguard details right around the same time.

-archy-/-

[Walkingfeather]

wasnt john tower on that list.... was he the sen. from tex that died in a plane crash
Didnt theresas first husband do a wellstone too?

wondering how many people kerry knows died in planes...

[piasa]

More trivia:

1973 : (US : MURDERER SHAKUR FINDS SAFE HAVEN IN CUBA) Black Liberation Army leader Joanne Chesimard aka Assata Shakur, one of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives for killing a New Jersey State trooper in 1973, would end up getting safe haven in Cuba.- "CASTRO AND THE INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, A CHRONOLOGY," by Eugene Pons with a foreword by Jaime Suchlicki, Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies, Occasional Paper Series, September 2001

[piasa]

More trivia from 1973:

1973 : (US & IRAN BEGIN COVERT EFFORT TO TOPPLE IRAQI GOVERNMENT; US & IRAN FUND KURDISH REBELS) Richard Nixon makes a secret agreement with Shah of Iran to begin covert action against Saddam's government. The U.S. and Iran then begin funding the Kurds in their battle against the Iraqi regime for an autonomous Kurdistan. (See interview with James Akins.) - "A Chronology of US-Kurdish History," PBS, of http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/kurds/cron.html.

[piasa]

trivia from 1971 :

MAY 1, 1971 : (ANTI-WAR PROTEST) Anti-war march on Washington, its staff director was David Gelber. He got into network television news, did some producing for Dan Rather, and he ended up as senior producer for Ed Bradley's "60 Minutes."- "Socialist Lobotomies," Notra Trulock, Newsmaxcom, July 29, 2002

MAY 5, 1971 : (DELLUMS ATTEMPTS TO INSTIGATE 'MUTINY') With the United States still engaged in the Vietnam War, Congressman Ron Dellums spoke to demonstrators on the steps of the Capitol while standing under a Vietcong flag which someone had attached to the building’s balcony. And as related in the 1972 edition of Current Biography, he "began his own investigation of army conditions in the spring of 1971 by dropping in on short notice at military posts around the United States and speaking to rank-and-file soldiers, encouraging them to oppose the war in Vietnam...."

[Hon]

"A 1971 law makes it a federal crime to assault or kidnap or kill a member of Congress."

I wonder if this law wasn't fallout from the Weathermen's attempt to kill Senators by blowing up the Senate washroom in February of 1971?

And, as I've mentioned, the VVAW leadership were very tight with the Weathermen at the time.

[piasa]

bttt

[bmwcyle]

Who sent the gun men to Tom Delays' office?

[Dante3]

bttt

[petitfour]

Three black men? I thought from earlier stories on this that it was only two. I was telling hubby about it and he postulated that maybe the third was a driver of a getaway vehicle. However, the info on this is so sketchy. . .

[ServesURight]

BUMP

[faithincowboys]

Was this the work of Kerry's friends in VVAW???

[Tribune7]

bump I saw a V V A W guy defending Kerry of Fox claiming the fellow speaking about assassinating senators was a flake and not taken seriously.

This is a pretty good counterpoint.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Looks like "Cold Case Files" finally has the breakthrough they've been looking for. Expect simulataneous raids at several luxury properties in Boston, Nantucket, Montana,....

[FourtySeven]

Good work!