Gulf oil clean-up workers killed; Boat Captain Murder Or Suicide?

MSNBC Deletes Mention of Oil Clean-up Capt. William Allen Kruse’s Death
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/msnbc-deletes-mention-of-oil-clean-up-capt-william-allen-kruses-death/
Posted on June 23, 2010 by willyloman

Earlier this morning, I reported on an MSNBC story about two Gulf oil clean-up workers who had been killed. One had been shot and there were no details on the other. MSNBC has now changed their story and dropped all mention of both of the deaths.

This is what they wrote this morning and I reported on here.

… The deaths reported Wednesday were not tied to the containment operation. The Coast Guard said the workers had been involved in cleanup operations did that their deaths did not appear to be work related.

One death was a boat captain who died of a gunshot wound, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Further details were not immediately available. MSNBC

Now, if you follow that link, the article has been scrubbed up and there is no mention of either of the clean-up worker’s deaths. In fact, instead part of the story is about saving a dolphin.

This is a screen-shot of the link preview which still has the image capture of the original story including a headline that mentions the two deaths: “two clean-up workers die in separate events“.




Now that MSNBC story is gone but it doesn’t mean someone didn’t die.

This is William Kruse, the man who MSNBC decided shouldn’t be mentioned in their story about BP.

A boat captain working in the oil spill response died from a gunshot wound this morning.

William Allen Kruse, born 1955, was the captain of The Rookie, a charter fishing boat normally based in Orange Beach, said Deputy Baldwin County Coroner Rod Steade .

Steade said the deckhands were on the docks and heard a gunshot and went back on and found him dead on the “flying bridge.” AI

This death is being ruled a “suicide” at this point based on what investigators have claimed Capt. Kruse’s friends told them. However, the only friend actually interviewed for the article on AI had a slightly different take on things.

Baldwin County Coroner Stan Vinson said witnesses told investigators that Kruse had been upset about the loss of business caused by the closing of fishing grounds and public perceptions of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

… ”He didn’t show any signs he was going to this that would have thrown up any red flags where you’d think you better keep an eye on him,” Bell said. “He wasn’t any more aggravated with the whole situation than any of the rest of us. “

Bell added, however, that Kruse did like to know what was going on and was particularly frustrated with the lack of straight answers coming from BP about the Vessel of Opportunity program and particularly about how he was to be paid once his 2 boats were deployed. AI

Let’s sum up the official story – Kruse meets his deckhands for a day of work. He sends them to the store to get supplies. He tells them he will bring to boat around to fuel it. And then he shoots himself in the head. Does that make sense to you?

Whether Capt. Kruse took his own life or whether something else happened, either way, they are BOTH important stories about what is happening in the Gulf right now.

And MSNBC scrubbed it right out of their article. And what is even worse is we still don’t know what happened to the other reported death. That too seems to be lost in the MSNBC PR machine.

As it just so happens, MSNBC is also running a story right now about how the bad news from the BP oil spill is pulling Obama’s approval ratings down. The article is titled… “Poll: Spill drags the president’s rating down“

Two months of oil continuing to gush from a well off the Gulf Coast, as well as an unemployment rate still near 10 percent, have taken a toll on President Barack Obama and his standing with the American public, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. MSNBC

Would MSNBC go so far as to erase any mention of Kruse’s death because it might bring down their precious Obama’s approval rating? Looks that way to me. If the bad news threatens to harm the standing of the glorious leader, just erase it. That’s the state of the “news” today.