WBOC
DOVER -- A new radio ad from Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner heats up the campaign trail today. The Minner campaign says the ad is in response to Bill Lee's ad criticizing the governor's involvement in the recent prison hostage incident. That's when a counselor was held hostage and raped by an inmate during a seven hour standoff at the Delaware Correctional Center.
Each opponent has their own opinion of how the hostage incident should have been handled and what needs to be done with the Delaware Prison system. Here's how the debate started....
After the July 12th hostage incident, Bill Lee came out with a radio ad criticizing Governor Minner. Here's part of what his ad says in response to how the hostage situation was handled....
"Governor Minner's response was, in prisons, you almost expect this to happen. No Governor, this is Delaware, and you shouldn't expect these things to happen."
But Governor Minner says Lee and some media outlets took her comment out of context. She says it was not made in the context of the hostage situation; it was talking about the training of correctional officers. That's why she says she put out a radio ad yesterday to clarify what she said. Here's part of it....
"Governor Minner never said you expect this to happen in prisons. Governor Minner said correctional officers are the ones trained for the possibility of a prisoner taking a hostage in case it ever happens, and that's all she said."
The governor says it's important to understand what she was asked, in order to understand how she responded.
"They were talking about the training that we did and why we wouldn't use state police people involved with training, and, I said across the country in anticipation of problem in prisons, you train for every incident," said Governor Ruth Ann Minner (D).
But, Bill Lee doesn't buy her argument. He says she's reneging what she said to the media in the past. Here's Bill Lee on Governor Minner's new ad....
"I was a little bit stunned, obviously implying that I was knowingly misrepresenting her statements. It's just not true. I certainly have relied on the media for my information and indeed the governor has defended those positions in the past. So, the change of position and accusing me of misstating the facts was shocking," said Bill Lee.
