MARIONVILLE, Mo., April 22 (UPI) -- A longtime friend of Frazier Glenn Miller, the white supremacist accused of shooting three people at Jewish facilities, has resigned as mayor of Marion, Mo.
Daniel Clevenger, 59, quit after the city council voted 4-1 Monday night to start the process of impeaching him. He told the Springfield News-Leader he felt hurt by comments his constituents made during an emotional meeting.
The issue was not Clevenger's friendship with Miller, who lived near Marion for many years, but statements he has made since Miller was arrested suggesting agreement with his views, if not his actions. Miller is charged with the murder of Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, 14, at a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kansas, and Terri LaManno, 53, who was visiting her mother at a Jewish home for the elderly.
After Miller's arrest, Clevenger told the News-Leader that Jews "run things," citing the federal reserve, the Food and Drug Administration and other government institutions.
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Marion is a city with a population of just over 2,000 in southwestern Missouri, more than 100 miles southeast of Kansas City and 30 miles southwest of Springfield.
The speakers included former Mayor Bob Duda.
"The words that you spoke to the media, on numerous occasions, were vile and disgusting," he said. "Mr. Clevenger, I am asking you to step down."
While most speakers urged resignation or impeachment, Clevenger got some support.
"I have seen a lot more hatred from some of you people than I have seen out of Dan Clevenger," Gene Smith said during the meeting. "I thought we had free speech in America."
One speaker said he had never seen a black person in Marionville. Dan Noyes brought in his black son-in-law, Damian Harris, a captain in the city fire department, who said he has been "accepted from Day One."
[Springfield News-Leader]
