Anger, Shock, Hopelessness, Fear Expressed; Some Distrust Justice

              Anger, Shock, Hopelessness, Fear
Expressed; Some Distrust Justice
Some Greensboro residents stood silently
in protest in the cold afternoon wind. Others were angry, and said so. Reaction to
Monday's verdict freeing six Ku Klux
Klansmen and Nazis from charges of murder and rioting came in many forms.
At news conferences in the city, people
called for further investigations and some
spoke openly of distrust of the judicial
system.
One of the few to applaud the jury's decision was Nazi leader Harold Covington who
said in Raleigh he wanted to create a state
for racists in the Carolinas.
But Covington was the exception.
At Morningside Homes, the public housing development in southeast Greensboro
where the shootings of five Communist
Workers Party demonstrators occurred a
year ago, the shock expressed elsewhere in
the city just touched the surface of bitter
feelings there.
Many who two weeks ago recalled feelings of anger and frustration on the one-
year anniversary of the shooting spoke up
once again. This time the protective edge
that once prevailed was not the norm.
"We're fired up and can't take it no
more," began Keith Wright. "No justice
has been done. We've got no kind of system
of justice. We've got to (protect) ourselves."
iix killers are back out on the street.
They (Klansmen and Nazis) killed five peo-
ile and got away scot-free," said Nelson
Villiamson, throwing his hands up in anguish. "I thought this was the United
States. This might as well be a Communist
country." Williamson was one of the witnesses during the trial.
Five Morningside residents stood two
blocks from the corner where the shooting
took place. Two weeks ago, none in the
group believed the six defendants would receive stiff sentences, but none believed all
would be acquitted of every charge.
"There is no justice in North Carolina,
especially Greensboro," said S.L. Galloway. "If we don't stand up for ourselves
nobody will." In mock fright to possible
conflicts in the aftermath of the verdict
Williamson said, "I'm scared. You think I
ain't? I am so scared I don't know what to
do."
If there was any feeling equal to the bitterness expressed by this group, it was one
of hopelessness.
"I had a feeling they were going to be
freed," said a woman unloading children's
books from the rear of a car, "but I still
think they should have been punished."
"They (the jury) just gave them (Klansmen) a license to kill," said a second woman. "They probably had a Klan member on
the jury."
A Greensboro disc jockey, who makes his
home a few blocks away, said he would
have been pleased with a conviction on any
charge, except one calling for the death
penalty.
"I think a guilty verdict would have
made the Klan open up more. I think if
they go on then maybe they will leave us
alone. If the jury had sent them to death
row, no telling what might have happened.
Just think what would happen if whites
start rioting."
Not far from Morningside students' at
N.C. A&;T State University said the verdict was an outrage.
Student Government Association Pres
dent Pamela McCorkle said "a Klan men!
ity" is spreading throughout the city. Th
problem won't be solved "until the peo
admit there is a problem."
She spoke to about 150 people, most o
them news reporters, gathered in the 8
dent union.
Deborah Davis, a sophomore social s
vice major, said, "It was really unjust anc
think it was evident that having an all
white jury helped. The Klan can get aw
with murder and take more lives."
"It was totally wrong, there should ha
been more additions to death row," s
Maurice Edwards, a senior biology maj
"If the white community had been
volved, the verdict would have been diff
ent," he said.
"I feel like somene did something wron
somewhere," a bewildered Ronnie Coope
a sophomore, said. "Over 600 pieces of e
dence and not one piece stuck. How can
feel, but angry? The mayor is skeptical a
when he is, I know something is wrong. W
want to get the facts fast."
In downtown Greensboro, others called
for more information. The National Anti-
Klan Network, one of several groups represented at a Klan protest march last winter,
asked the federal government to intervene
in the case.
Leah Wise spoke for the group at midday
from the steps of the federal courthouse on
West Market Street. She listed four proposals to further investigate the shootings.
She called upon the U.S. Department ol
Justice to bring civil rights charges against
(See Anger: B-2, Col. 2)
Five Morningside residents stood two blocks from the corner where the shooting took
place. Two weeks ago, none in the group believed the six defendants would receive stiff
sentences, but none believed all would be acquitted of every charge. _
J