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Did Huckabee Cash In on School Shooting?

Emotions still frayed from book deal after 1998 Jonesboro killings

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 26, 2008 3:18 PM CST

(Newser) – The crime shook Arkansas: Two boys, 11 and 13, killed four classmates and a teacher in 1998 in what became known as the Jonesboro shootings. Within days, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee had a $25,000 book deal about youth violence. A decade later, the deal still rankles some who say the governor cashed in on tragedy, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Critics saw the episode as unseemly—and typical of Huckabee. A lawyer who represented victims' families said Huckabee "never saw a gift he didn't take." Editorials called him a "money-grubbing governor" and "Mike the Huckster." Huckabee has defended his book, Kids who Kill, saying it was conceived before the shootings, and wasn't about Jonesboro per se.

Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee talks to supporters, church officials and the media during a campaign stop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee talks to supporters, church officials and the media during a campaign stop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. (AP...   (Associated Press)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, speaks after a fundraiser in Traveler's Rest, S.C., Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, speaks after a fundraiser in Traveler's Rest, S.C., Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)   (Associated Press)
Republican presidential hopeful former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, left, speaks to reporters prior to boarding his charter plane in Miami, Fla., Friday, Jan. 25, 2008, as he campaigned across Florida. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential hopeful former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, left, speaks to reporters prior to boarding his charter plane in Miami, Fla., Friday, Jan. 25, 2008, as he campaigned across Florida....   (Associated Press)
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