"Very Serious Concern" That Census Worker Death Was Politically Motivated

AP reporter Devlin Barrett visited MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow" show Wednesday night to discuss the hanging death of a census worker in Kentucky. While tragic enough on its own, the fact that the word "fed" was drawn on his chest has led to the involvement of the FBI.

Here's part of the interview:

Barrett: What investigators found at the crime scene is obviously very disturbing. And what they're going through now is finding out exactly what happened to this person. [...]

Investigators have taken great pains both at the Kentucky State Police and the FBI to better understand exactly what happened. Obviously the details, the few details we know at this point are very disturbing, and could feed a larger political argument if this ends up being the result of anti-government sentiment. But they don't know that for absolute certain yet. And part of the investigators' job is to rule out any other explanation for what happened.

Maddow: And because the case has drawn the attention of federal law enforcement, because the statement by the FBI spokesman today, that's of course the reason that this is at the top of a national newscast right now. [...] Is there any way to know even whether federal law enforcement getting involved is an indication tha they think that (anti-government sentiment) might be true?"

Barrett: "I don't think federal law enforcement would still be involved a week and a half after the body was found if there wasn't still that very serious concern. And they don't have all the answers yet. And some of the things they know they're not going to tell us because they're concerned that there may be perpetrators out there that they would very much like to catch. But they don't know all these things for certain yet, and part of the process we're in now is proving all the other alternate explanations."

Maddow: One of the ways we figure out what's going on, even when they won't tell us, is by how agencies behave, and how one part of the government advises another part of the government to behave. Has the Census Bureau stopped any operations or sisued any warning to its workers as a result of this death?"

Barrett: "In the county where this death occurred, they have instructed their workers not to go door to door while this investigation continues. Clearly there's a great deal of concern within this census worker community in that area, and they would very much like to know exactly what happened."

Watch the interview: