eBay to stop selling McVeigh-related items
By Zach Taylor
Tribune-Star
Today marks the last day Internet auction site eBay will carry shirts or other items bearing Timothy McVeigh's name or likeness.
The company, the most popular Internet auction site in the world, is broadening a long-standing policy prohibiting items that promote or glorify hatred, violence or racial intolerance, or that promote organizations with such views, according to a message from eBay on its Web site.
Kevin Pursglove, senior director of communication for eBay, said the move comes because of concerns over two areas - merchandise associated with notorious criminals and Nazi memorabilia.
"What we came to discover as eBay expands globally ... we were encountering different definitions as to what was appropriate or what wasn't appropriate," he said. "We came to the conclusion that we would combine them and take care of them all at once."
About 25 items related to McVeigh were up for auction Tuesday on eBay, Pursglove said, most of which will be removed. He said non-inflammatory McVeigh items, such as documentaries and books, will be allowed to stay on the site.
The move takes effect one day after McVeigh's original execution date. Pursglove said the date was not taken into consideration when choosing May 17 as their policy change date.
McVeigh, who lives in the U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute, was scheduled to die May 16. He was convicted in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.
"We were ready to post on May 3rd and we always give our users two weeks notice," Pursglove said.
Jim Handlin of Terre Haute, a McVeigh T-shirt designer, thinks the execution delay could cause eBay to postpone the change.
"They're going to leave [the policy alone] until they know that the execution's over and done with. That way the people selling the shirts aren't mad," Handlin said. "But that's probably going to make the people who are complaining about them happy, too. They're playing both sides.
"They're doing it just because somebody complained that's against the execution," he said. "I imagine they've probably had a few calls."
Handlin drew national media attention when he posted a shirt he designed on eBay that pictured a syringe and the words "Hoosier Hospitality/ McVeigh/ Terre Haute May 16, 2001/ Final Justice."
"I think I've probably designed the world's most publicized T-shirt," Handlin said. "I don't care if I make any money. I don't care if I lose a little bit, but I've designed the world's most publicized T-shirt."
He has since designed two other McVeigh-related shirts.
The earlier eBay policy allowed items like Handlin's shirts and hate items if they could be considered "historical objects," those at least 50 years old.
"We are now broadening our prohibition to include more items, regardless of age," the board posting said. "In addition, the current guidelines for items associated with notorious murderers are also being strengthened. This includes prohibiting personal belongings, letters and artwork created by such individuals, as well as novelty items bearing their names and images."
According to the board message, items that will be removed under the expanded guidelines include the following:
- Items that bear symbols of the Nazis and the Nazi SS, including authentic German World War II memorabilia
- Items that bear symbols of the Ku Klux Klan or other hate groups
- Crime scene, morgue and autopsy photographs
- Letters and artwork from notorious murderers
- T-shirts bearing the likeness of a notorious murderer
- Copies of hate/racism/violence propaganda materials
- Electric chairs and related capital punishment items
Handlin thinks eBay's move could prove financially beneficial to his endeavors.
"Sales will probably go up if people know they've only got a certain amount of time to get them," he said.
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