Black Caucus asks U.S. to check reports that Secretary Ron Brown died from gunshot

Jet, Jan 12, 1998

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Maxine Waters has asked President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno to spearhead an investigation into reports that the late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown died from a bullet hole in his skull.

He was one of 35 passengers on a military plane which crashed into a mountain in April 1996 in Croatia.

Two military pathologists later "sparked a firestorm of inquiries" when they raised the possibility that President Clinton's key Cabinet member may have died from a wound to the head caused by a gunshot (JET, Dec. 22, 1997).

In letters to the president, Attorney General Reno and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rep. Waters wrote that both U.S. Army Lt. Col. David Hause, a deputy armed forces medical examiner, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell, an armed forces forensic pathologist, were both quoted in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review articles as saying a wound to the Secretary's head may have been caused by a gunshot.

"I am not sure of what, if any, steps have been taken regarding these allegations," she wrote, "I would like to request that you evaluate the issues raised by the recent statements of these officers and make a determination of whether an investigation into the allegations is warranted."

An article in the Washington Times Newspaper noted that Dick Gregory, famed humorist and political commentator; and political conservative Alan Keyes, a former UN ambassador, also have asked for the government to investigate the claims.

The Times front-page article was titled, "Was Brown Dead Before His Plane Went Down?"