GREENSBORO RECORD
Jan. 28, 1932 B6
Congressional probe
of shootings asked
WASHINGTON (AP) — A citizens'
group has called for a congressional investigation into the Justice Department's handling of the November 1979
slayings of five Communist Workers
Party members in Greensboro.
"We urge continued, full and thorough investigation of why no federal
charges have been initiated," said
Charles Davis, a spokesman for the
group calling itself the Concerned Citizen:- of the November 3rd Incident.
Davis and other members of the
group held a Capitol Hill news conference after meeting with Rep. John
Conyers Jr., D-Mich., chairman of the
House Judiciary subcommittee on
criminal justice.
The citizens' group, Davis said, was
seeking "a congressional investigation
into the Justice Department's inadequacy in redressing the violation of
the civil rights of the victims, their
families and the local Greensboro community."
He said the delegation visiting
Washington intended to deliver to the
Justice Department resolutions and
petitions from the Greensboro City
Council, the city's Human Rights
Commission as well as churches and
other organizations.
The killings occurred when Ku Klux
Klansmen and Nazis clashed with
Communist Worker Party demonstrators on Nov. 3, 1979. Six persons were
charged in connection with the deaths,
but thev were acquitted in November
1980.
Since then, civil rights leaders have
asked the Justice Department to file
federal civil rights violation charges
against the defendants.
Last month, former U.S. Attorney
H.M. "Mickey" Michaux, who asked
for the federal investigation, said he
thought it was proceeding too slowly.
"1 gave them my recommendation
that we prosecute May 5 (1981), and
they (Justice Department officials)
said they'd make a decision by the
time I went out of office June 24,"
Michaux said.
Michaux says he thinks federal laws
were violated by the shootings, which
had the effect of denying the Communists the right of freedom of assembly.
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RIGHT: Delegation from Concerned
Citizens of the Nov. 3rd Incident
Meets with Rep. Conyers - Jan. 27, 1932
