Jimmy Carter photo

Statement on the Death of ABC News Correspondent Bill Stewart

June 21, 1979

The murder of American newsman Bill Stewart in Nicaragua was an act of barbarism that all civilized people condemn.

Journalists seeking to report the news and inform the public are soldiers in no nation's army. When. they are made innocent victims of violence and war, all people who cherish the truth and believe in free debate pay a terrible price.

I know the American people share my sense of outrage and loss at the death of this gifted, dedicated young man. On behalf of all Americans, I want to express my deepest sympathy to Bill Stewart's wife and family for their suffering and
loss.

Note: The correspondent was killed by a member of the National Guard after he approached a government maintained street barricade in Managua. He was in Nicaragua to cover the fighting between the government forces and members of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

Jimmy Carter, Statement on the Death of ABC News Correspondent Bill Stewart Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/250301

Filed Under

Categories

Attributes

Simple Search of Our Archives