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Adopted by the Governing Board of the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
WHEREAS the Governing Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ
in the USA has "expressed concern for the victims of the Ku Klux Klan
violence and called upon "the federal, state, and local governments to
(b) mobilize their law enforcement agencies effectively to investigate
and bring to trial the perpetrators of the Ku Klux Klan violations of
the law" (adopted by the Governing Board, November 10, 1979); and
WHEREAS the Institute for Southern Studies, the New York Times, and other magazines and newspapers reported there was possible collusion among the
Federal Bureau of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Greensboro
Police Department, the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party in the
killing of anti-Klan demonstrators Cesar Cauce, Michael Nathan, Bill
Sampson, Sandi Smith, and Jim Waller on November 3, 1979; and
WHEREAS it has been alleged that federal agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms infiltrated the Nazi Party prior to the murders, and encouraged the Nazis to arm themselves, but were never called upon to
testify at the trial; and
WHEREAS an all white jury freed the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party members from
all charges;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Governing Board of the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.:
1. Urges the Secretary of the Treasury and the Civil Rights Division of the
Department of Justice to fully disclose the process of the federal investigation into the killings of the Greensboro Five and its findings, including
making a determination whether agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms were involved in the collusion as charged;
2. Authorizes the National Council of the Churches of Christ and encourages
its member denominations in whatever ways are possible and appropriate to
support the Civil Rights action being brought by family and survivors of
the victims for their deaths.
Civil Rights Greensboro
