The Greensboro civil rights suit (Waller vs. Butkovich)

              pmj
THE GREENSBORO CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT
(Waller vs. Butkovich)
PLAINTIFFS:
There are sixteen plaintiffs:  the widows and widower of the five slain; the
injured demonstrators (seven); and the demonstrators wrongfully arrested and
charged in connection with the events (six).  (Two of the six arrested were also
among the seven injured.) The plaintiffs are described in the complaint as
"militant anti-racist labor organizers" (or, as one or more of the following:
communist, labor organizer, and/or advocate of equal rights for Black people).
DEFENDANTS:
There are 86 defendants:
* Bernard Butkovich, agent-provocateur, & Edward Dawson, informant-provocateur;
* 20 Klan and Nazis known to have been present and involved in the attack
November 3rd and/or involved in the planning for it;
* 34 Greensboro police officers known to have been involved in police planning
for Nov. 3rd, some aspect of police operations that day, and/or the subsequent
cover-up;
* City, State, and Federal agencies - the City of Greensboro and the Greensboro
Police Department; the State of North Carolina, the Department of Crime Control
and Public Safety, and the SBI; the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the
Community Relations Service, and the BATF;
* 20 odd present or past officials or employees of the above government bodies
or agencies.
The law enforcement and other governmental personnel fall into different
categories.  Some are described as having participated in the planning, execution
and/or cover-up of the attack on the plaintiffs, and/or having failed to prevent
its occurrence. This includes informant- or agent-provocateurs, their control
agents (the people theyreport to), or supervisors for various agencies.
"Executive defendants" are those in the chain of command in different
agencies who were responsible for devising, implementing, and/or permitting the
official or unofficial policies and practices of their agencies that caused the
attack on the plaintiffs, and who participated in the cover-up of the attack.
(E.g., the mayor, governor, heads of the SBI, FBI, etc.)
"John Doe" defendants are defendants who are known to plaintiffs by their
actions or their positions in the groups or agencies involved in the attack
and cover-up, but whose specific identities are as yet unknown (e.g., infiltrators
or informants for various agencies; law enforcement personnel involved with them
or in other covert activity against the plaintiffs; unknown Klan and Nazi
participants).
LEGAL BASIS FOR THE SUIT ("JURISDICTION"):
The suit is brought primarily under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (known as