Informant tells
about shootings
for first time
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WINSTON-SALEM — Edward Dawson,
formerly a Ku Klux Klansman, FBI informant and Greensboro Police informant, this
morning began telling a federal grand jury
about his role in the Nov. 3, 1979, shooting
deaths of five Communist demonstrators in
Greensboro.
Today is the first time Dawson, a Greensboro carpenter, has testified in the case.
He refused to take the stand during the
1980 state court trial of six Klansmen and
Nazi party members who faced murder and
rioting charges. The six were acquitted.
Today, however, Dawson arrived at the
Federal Building with a brief case stuffed
with newspaper clippings, handwritten
notes and letters, leftist and right-wing literature, a tape recorder and several cassettes.
"There's nothing they can ask me that I
will refuse to answer," Dawson said. He
said he had stayed up late the past few
nights, studying the case and reviewing the
material he brought with him.
At the time of the shootings, Dawson no
longer was a Klan member or an FBI informant. He had, however, been paid twice
in the preceeding weeks for information he
provided to the Greensboro Police Department.
Dawson spoke at a Lincoln County Klan
meeting two weeks prior to the shootings,
at which a few Klansmen later charged in
On Nov. 3, Dawson led a nine-vehicle
Klan-Nazi caravan to Everitt Street and
Carver Drive, the starting point for a
planned "Death to the Klan" rally sponsored
by the Communist Workers Party. A fight
broke out between the two groups, followed
by 88 seconds of gunfire that killed five
CWP members.
Two days before the shootings, Dawson
had obtained the CWP's parade permit, a
matter of public record, from the Greensboro Police Department. It listed the routes
for the planned march.
The CWP and its supporters claimed
Dawson was part of an elaborate government conspiracy to murder the Communists'
leadership. Dawson denies this, but says police should have been at the rally site prior
to the caravan's arrival.
Before his testimony, Dawson talked with
reporters for about two hours. He gave this
account of his involvement in the incident:
In mid October, after the CWP announced plans for the Nov. 3 rally, Dawson's contact with the Greensboro Police
asked him if the Klan had plans to attend
the rally.
In a subsequent conversation with Virgil
Griffin, a Klan leader from the Lincoln
County area, Griffin invited Dawson to attend an Oct. 20 Klan rally at the Lincoln
County Fairgrounds.
(See Informant: Page C2, Col. i
Informant ^hsl
"When I talked to the police, they said,
'Well, can you go?' I said yes," Dawson said.
Immediately after the Oct. 20 rally, Dawson
spoke before a closed Klan meeting attended by
about 80 people. He said he told the group about
the CWP's planned march and asked how many
planned to attend. He said 60 hands went up.
When Klansmen asked if they should take
weapons, Dawson said he told them, "I am not
your father. I cannot tell you what to do." He
said the police would be at the CWP rally for protection,, and possibly the National Guard.
After talking further with Griffin, Dawson
reported back to the police department. He said,
"Approximately 200" Klansmen would be coming
to the Nov. 3 rally.
Dawson was paid $50 for that information.
Earlier, he said, the police paid him $25 to attend
a meeting of the Revolutionary Communist Party
in Greensboro.
On Nov. 1, Dawson again met with his police
contact. He said as he was leaving, one of the
officers pulled him aside and said, "'Hey, Ed, did
you know the starting point (of the march) has
been changed?' No, I had no idea. He said to look
at a copy of the (parade) permit.
"And that's how Eddie Dawson ended up
with a copy of the parade permit."
Dawson declined to identify the officer who
told him of the change and sites.
The CWP initially had advertised its march
as beginning at 11 a.m. at the Windsor Community Center on East Lee Street. On the parade permit, the rally was listed as beginning at noon at
Everitt Street and Carver Drive.
