Jonathon Sharkey
Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey (born April 2, 1964 in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is a satanist and vampire (or "sanguinary vampyre" in his own words) running in the 2006 gubernatorial election in the state of Minnesota. He announced his candidacy for the governorship of Minnesota on Friday the 13th of January, 2006. Sharkey has previously planned to run for Congress in New Jersey and Florida.
Sharkey professes a hatred for the Christian Supreme Being, God the Father, but claims that he has no disrespect for followers of the aforementioned. He says that this hatred began when his grandmother died. He then kicked out his wife and son, and began dating his second wife. However, Sharkey is also a religious pluralist and professes respect for all creeds as well as the US Constitution. His campaign slogan was "A New Deal for Minnesota," reflecting his professed respect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He proposed impaling terrorists and pedophiles on the grounds of the State Capitol.[1]
On January 31, 2006, Sharkey was arrested in Princeton, Minnesota on what many thought were two felony counts, one of escape and one of stalking. However, the Stalking charge was dismissed against him in September 2003. His trial for escape was scheduled for July 12, 2006. He was found not guilty of felony escape. Also mentioned in the suit is that fact that Sharkey on October 22, 2004 in an effort to kill himself, took over 120 tranquilizers.[2]
A documentary about Sharkey, "Impaler the Movie", is in production.
The VWP
The Vampires, Witches, and Pagans Party was founded by Sharkey in 2005. It is officially recognized by United States Federal Election Committee, although it is unclear whether it has any membership other than Sharkey himself. The Party is dedicated to the protection of the religious beliefs and the political advancment of individuals identifying themselves as vampires, witches, pagans, demons, Satanists, Wiccans, and those professing similar lifestyle and religious views. Sharkey's VWP Party Yahoo Group has groups in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Ireland, and Italy. The register of political parties in the UK shows no registered party of that name. However, according to Sharkey, he plans to establish a recognized VWP political party in every country in the world.
References
- ^ "Jonathonforgovernor.us - Official Campaign site". Offline as of October 3, 2006.
- ^ "'Impaler' Claims He Did Nothing Wrong". WCCO. CBS, material contributed from AP. February 1, 2006.