World

Michelle Obama’s father NOT buried in troubled cemetery (Updated)

by smorrison20 | July 14, 2009 at 10:17 am

302 views | 92 Recommendations | 7 comments

First lady Michelle Obama’s father was buried in the Chicago-area cemetery where investigators say hundreds of graves were dug up in a scheme to resell the burial plots, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

It was not clear whether the grave of Fraser Robinson III was among those disturbed in the scheme. Camille Johnston, the first lady’s communications director, said she would have no further comment on the matter.

It would seem that The First Lady Michelle Obama's father may have been another unfortunate victim, all be it post mortem, of this scam being run by the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. So far 300 graves have been dug up and the space in them resold.

Other notable figures associated with the cemetery include Emmett Till a slain civil rights activist, Dinah Washington a Jazz singer, and some Negro League baseball players.

The investigation continues according to the local police department.

As an update Michelle Obama's Father is NOT burried at the Cemitary in question. This was a mistake released by The White House and has been retracked.

The White House clarified Tuesday afternoon that First Lady Michelle Obama's father is buried at Lincoln cemetery, not Burr Oak cemetery.

The White House had earlier told CBS News Mrs. Obama's father is buried at Burr Oak, the site where gravediggers removed hundreds of bodies to resell burial plots.

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

DLDog

at 11:33 on July 14th, 2009

Oh. wow. The crap is really gonna hit the fan now.

Barbara McPherson

at 19:17 on July 14th, 2009

Wonders never cease. The lengths some people will go to to make a buck.

Trip (not verified)

at 20:26 on July 14th, 2009

You people really need to get your facts straight. As we all know now Michelle Obama's father was not buried in that cemetery. Worse however is sites like this that are reporting that Emmett Till's remains were displaced. The fact of the matter is that Jesse Jackson worked with authorities to have Till's remains protected to prevent them from being disturbed; they were never part of the scam.

I can understand how this information took off without merit as the idiots at the Associated Press reported it as such but that is not the case. When are people going to learn that the Associated Press and most other mass media outlets are worthess repositiories of amateur journalists that simply pretend to have a clue. These people make Jayson Blair look legitimate.

smorrison20

at 21:13 on July 14th, 2009

Trip maybe you should reread the above article. 1. The facts are as strait as they can be they were verified by multiple sources if you have ever been in J School you need 3. I only posted one but there are 3 separate news outlets reporting this. 2. I never said Till's remains were displaced. I simply reported that this was a cemetery where his remains were. NOT that they were moved or part of the scam. Please keep your trolling to your self.

Parmeisan (not verified)

at 07:55 on July 15th, 2009

Actually, you did. You said "Other notable figures displaced include Emmett Till ..." so perhaps you should go back and edit that to say only what you meant to say.

Also, I don't think he means to insult you, just the AP. He is only trying to clarify that your sources are wrong (although he ought to provide a source as well); anyway, he's not trolling.

smorrison20

at 08:08 on July 15th, 2009

I made the change and I thank you for your help as that was my mistake but I do think that is what he is doing. His comments on the AP weren't constructive. Also that wasn't the source that I used in this article so it had no bearing on the discourse. Perfect example of trolling.