President Clinton denounced racist activities at "Good Ol' Boys Roundups" in Tennessee as "sickening" Wednesday as the FBI planned detailed examinations of seven agents who admit attending the picnics.
"If anybody who works in federal law enforcement thinks that that kind of behavior is acceptable, they ought to think about working someplace else," Clinton said.The seven agents to be grilled by FBI investigators admit they have attended the law-enforcement picnics over the past 15 years, but all deny seeing or taking part in racist practices.
FBI Director Louis J. Freeh reported Tuesday on preliminary results of a canvass of the bureau's nearly 23,000 employees. Only seven agents and one clerical worker admitted ever attending the event.
"More field work remains to be done by FBI investigators," Freeh said. "We will carefully examine each instance where an FBI employee has admitted attending those events."
Clinton, in a speech defending affirmative action programs, called reported conduct at the annual picnics "a sickening reminder of just how pervasive these kinds of attitudes are."
"I am committed to finding the truth about what happened there and to taking appropriate action," he said.
Freeh said Tuesday that he would "not tolerate knowing participation or support by FBI personnel of any activity that is racist or otherwise illegal or improper."
He said 475 employees in this country who have been out of contact with their offices and the employees in 12 of the bureau's 23 foreign offices have yet to be surveyed.
Only one agent reported attending the 1995 gathering, which has set off a firestorm of controversy, several executive branch investigations and plans for hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to news reports, a former agent of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms helped coordinate the all-white law enforcement picnic, known as the "Good Ol' Boys Roundup." Described as a weekend of relaxation for police officers, it was held May 18-20 in Polk County, Tenn.
The weekend was said to include the sale of T-shirts with Martin Luther King Jr.'s face behind a target, O.J. Simpson in a hangman's noose and white police officers with a black man sprawled across the hood of their car under the words "Boyz on the Hood."
"The racist activities reported to be part of the `Good Ol' Boys Roundup' are repugnant," Freeh said in a written statement. "Anyone who attended this event with knowledge of any racist overtones and themes should reconsider whether they are, in fact, suited to a career in law enforcement."
The seven agents reported this attendance: One attended five times, from 1991 through 1995; one attended twice, in 1981 and 1982; two attended once each, in 1990 or 1991; one attended once, in 1986; one attended once in 1988; one attended once, in 1991.
In addition, a clerical employee said she and two support employees, who are no longer with the FBI, attended in 1983. The clerical employee also said she saw no racist activities.