GREENSBORO DAILY NEWS
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1980
City/State
Religion
Sports
Obituaries
Classified Ads
Section
B
Civil Rights Charges Eyed In Shootou
U.S. Attorney H.M. Michaux met Friday
with U.S. Justice Department civil rights
lawyers to discuss charging 10 Ku Klux
Klansmen and Nazis with violating the civil charges.
ifehts of Communist Workers Party demonstrators killed in a Nov. 3, 1979, shooting.
Earlier this week, f source close to the
investigation said the CWP will meet with
federal attorneys to discuss prosecuting
Klansmen and Nazis.
Michael Johnson, an attorney in the civil
rights division's criminal section, declined to
say whether CWP representatives attended
liia meeting with Michaux. Michaux, the
hief federal prosecutor in the U.S. Middle
District, couldn't be contacted. He had said
earlier he was considering federal prosecution of the Klansmen and Nazis as well as
five CWP members arrested on state
How much help the CWP attorneys will be
to Michaux is uncertain. CWP attorneys met
with Guiiford County District Attorney Michael Schlosser shortly after the Nov. 3
shooting. But Schlosser said Friday they refused to cooperate in the state's trial of six
elKf Klansmen and Nazis. He said CWP
members eventually worked against the
prosecution by refusing to testify. The six
were acquitted of murder and riot charges.
After the state's unsuccessful prosecution
of the case, Schlosser dropped state charges
against the 10 Klansmen and Nazis and five
CWP members.
Meanwhile Friday, Dan Sheehan of Washington, one of the lawyers representing
CWP members and supporters in a civil suit
against federal, state, and local government
agencies, met with Justice Department officials. A spokeswoman at Shee'nan's Christie
Institute, a religious public policy center in
Washington, said she believed the meeting
was about the civil suit. Sheehan could not
be contacted.
The civil suit was filed Nov. 3, the anniversary of the shooting.
U.S. Justice officials began looking at pos- ..
sible federal prosecution after the close of
the state's trial. Private citizens, civil rights
leaders and others have demanded federal
intervention.
Michaux said last week federal officials
were having difficulty finding a civil rights
violation in connection with the shooting.
More recently, Michaux said federal lawyers are making progress and that he will
make a decision soon on whether to prosecute Klansmen and Nazis who were involved
in the clash with the CWP.
One source close to the investigation said
the Justice Department is considering alleging Klansmen and Nazis violated CWP members' civil rights by interfering with a state-
protected march. The CWP received a city
permit to hold its march.
H.M. Michaux
? S
T
