<vf j
3
3
Cj>
bO Greensboro Daily News, Tues., Nov. 3, 1981
Groups Seek
fNew Probe
j Into Shootings
I] RALEIGH — Representatives of five organiza-
•tions united Monday in calling for additional investigation into five shooting deaths at a Greensboro rally
against the Ku Klux Klan two years ago.
I; The spokesmen, at a Raleigh news conference,
;also called for the filing of additional criminal charges
•against those responsible for the deaths.
Six Klansmen and Nazis were charged with
murder and rioting after a Communist Workers Parity "Death to the Klan" rally on Nov. 3, 1979, erupted
•in gunfire. When the shooting ended, five CWP demonstrators were dead and nine others injured.
i{ A Superior Court jury acquitted the Klansmen
'4nd Nazis last November in one of the longest trials
■in North Carolina history.
;• Kathryn Greene, representing the North Carolina People Against Government Repression and the
Klan and Nazis, carriecTpetitions Monday requesting
"a full and thorough federal prosecution" of those
responsible for the deaths, including any state or
federal officers or informants.
> She charged that undercover agents for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who
infiltrated the Klan and police informants contributed to the violence.
■ '. Greene said 3,000 to 5,000 signatures already
have been collected on the petitions by her group and
the North Carolina r\)pptf>r oltfae National Lawyers
Guild, a group of lawyers and law students with
about 7,000 members nationwide, and Those United
to Fight Fascism, based in Charlotte-
' The petitions probably will be sent to the U.S.
Justice Department and the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in January, she said. If
nothing else, "the petitions will force them to come
out and say they won't investigate (the shootings),"
Greene said.
Former U.S. Attorney H.M. "Mickey" Michaux
has recommended the Justice Department file criminal civil rights charges against participants in the
confrontation. The department has taken no action
on that recommendation.
Greene and Steve Edelstein of the National Lawyers Guild at news conference
Greene said further prosecution is needed because "justice has not been done in Greensboro. Lack
of vigorous prosecution led to the acquittals of all the
Klan and Nazis."
If the guilty people are not brought to trial and
prosecuted, Greene said, "all blacks, oppressed nationalities and progressive people across the country
will be that much more open to viscious attacks by
the right wing."
John Ehmann, of the United Duke (University)
Students, said a silent vigil would be held today at
Duke Chapel to mark the anniversary of the shootings and protest the government's lack of action in
the case.
Anne Sheppard of the Greensboro Justice Fund
charged that the government does not dare investi-
gate the role of undercover agents in the shootings
because they were involved.
Sheppard, one of the highly publicized Wilmington 10, also passed out leaflets charging the Greensboro shootings are "a window on the future.... It is in
the interests of all justice-loving Americans to uncover the rest of the Greensboro story, and to understand the links between corporate interests,
government agencies and right-wing violence."
The Wilmington 10 were convicted in the fire-
bombing of a Wilmington grocery during racial riots
in 1970 and 1971. The convictions were overturned in
December.
Sheppard said she now is working as co-chairman of the justice fund, which is helping pay for a
civil rights suit filed by friends and relatives of the
five victims. The pending suit charges there has
been a conspiracy between the government, the Klan
and Nazis.
Other groups represented at the news conference were the Triad Citizens Concerned for Central
America and the Southern Students Activist Network.
Approximately 80 people attended a one-hour
service Sunday to honor the five victims. The service
was held in Maplewood Cemetery on the outskirts of
Greensboro.
