SMOKERS THREATEN MEDIA [05/19]

A self-styled smokers' rights group threatened on Thursday to kill journalists because of what it said was a media conspiracy to turn the United States into a tobacco-free society.

The "Smokers' Rights Action Group," in a fax sent to the Reuters bureau in Dallas, charged that journalists were deliberately lying about the economic cost of smoking to society.

"Because there is no process for the protection of our rights, ultimately you media will have to be dealt with by assassination. This notification is so you cannot pretend that you don't know the reason why," the group said. ~ It was not clear whether the threat was an elaborate hoax.

A woman identifying herself as Carol Thompson, a group member, said politicians were also to blame for the rise in anti-tobacco sentiment but that her group would first target the media.

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