LEE COUNTY, Fla., - The leader of the Lee County chapter of the NAACP claims he's received death threats and believes the Sons of Confederate Veterans may be behind it.
In a letter to law enforcement, James Muwakkil writes:
“On Saturday, April 21, 2018 at approximately 4:00 p.m., a white male who I've never seen before, driving a blue convertible, possibly a Corvette, drove to my home and took a picture from outside. I was home at the time and I yelled to the man from inside the house to find out who he was. It appeared from his facial expression that he was very scared to find that I was home, and he drove away at a high rate of speed.”
On April 28, 2018, I was at Utopia Barbershop in Fort Myers. Mr. Charles Henry, a well-known black gentleman who cooks for the confederate gathering in LaBelle every year, told me publicly that a so-called "commander" with the Sons of the Confederacy made a threat against me. Some members of the Sons of the Confederacy were at Mr. Henry's house bring supplies in preparation for his cooking at the gathering. Mr. Henry told me, "Brother James, one of the Commanders of the Sons of the Confederacy came to my home to drop off some meat. While they were there, he [the commander] said to me, 'You think we can pay $500 to make Mr. Muwakkil disappear?'"
Muwakkil believes the threats are serious. He tells 4 In Your Corner, he's contacted the FBI.
The threats come just weeks before the organization is planning a demonstration to try to get the Robert E. Lee statue removed from downtown Fort Myers.
“They are hate symbols, they are reminders where certain groups had rights and certain groups did not,” Muwakkil said.
While Muwakkil says he expects more threats in the coming weeks, he doesn’t plan to back down.
“I’m moving forward. If not, my children’s children will be dealing with this,” Muwakkil said.
In an email to Muwakkil Thursday, Sheriff Mike Scott said, "I have shared your information with our Intelligence Unit, and we will not hesitate to assist our law enforcement colleagues as/if further information presents."
