No Mention of Scalise in 2002 Press Release

A press release for the 2002 workshop put on by David Duke’s European American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) makes no mention of Steve Scalise as one of the featured speakers.

UROThe press release, dated May 16, 2002, appeared on Duke’s EURO website. It mentions several speakers, all of them directly connected with the organization. Here is the press release in full:

EURO Holds Workshop to Train Future Civil Rights Activists

New Orleans, Louisiana, May 16, 2002 … The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) will hold a workshop on May 17-18 in Metairie, Louisiana, to train future civil rights activists. The event titled the “2002 EURO Workshop on Civil Rights” will teach effective methods of activism to our local, state and regional leaders and coordinators.

EURO National President David Duke will speak via teleconference from the International Conference on Human Rights in Moscow, Russia, to both groups. Also scheduled to speak will be EURO Louisiana State Representative Kenny Knight, EURO National Director Vincent Breeding and EURO California State President Stan Hess.

For more information please contact EURO National Director Vincent Breeding at 985-626-7714 or at nationaldirector@whitecivilrights.com.

The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) is America’s leading organization fighting against discrimination and for the rights and heritage of European Americans.

Kenny Knight, who was a close associate of David Duke, is mentioned as one of the speakers at the event. Yesterday, Slate’s Betsy Woodruff published an interview with Knight in which he claims Scalise spoke on the opening day of the conference. However, Knight now claims Scalise spoke to a mostly separate group of local citizens. “He was not there as a guest speaker at the conference,” Knight tells Woodruff. ”

Knight invited then–state Rep. Scalise as well as a representative from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and a person from the American Red Cross to speak to the civic association at the hotel. Knight said he thinks the Red Cross speaker was from a local chapter but didn’t remember specifically. He also said he didn’t remember the names of either of the other speakers. The representative from the sheriff’s department spoke to attendees about a neighborhood watch program, and the person from the Red Cross discussed CPR techniques. Scalise also spoke.

However, another one of Knight’s claims appears to be at odds with the 2002 press release. He tells Woodruff, “I, simply as a courtesy to Mr. Duke, rented the room and set it up to give them a location. I wasn’t really involved with the actual conference itself.” But the press release lists Knight as the “EURO Louisiana State Representative” and says he is a scheduled speaker.

Rep. Scalise has already admitted speaking at the event, though he denies knowing what the EURO conference was about.