Greensboro Massacre

Apparently, when you get members of several hate groups together, you have no guarantee that they will get along, even if their “values” are similar, and they “hate” many of the same groups. The Greensboro massacre occurred on November 3, 1979, in Greensboro, North Carolina, when members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the American Nazi Party (ANP) fatally shot five participants in a “Death to the Klan” march organized by the Communist Workers Party (CWP).

Leading up to the event, tensions were high with inflammatory rhetoric, and the police were aware, through an informant, that the KKK was prepared for violence. As the two groups clashed at the start of the march, gunfire erupted. CWP members and their supporters carried handguns, while KKK and ANP members had various firearms. Among the dead were four CWP members, who had been advocating for workers’ rights among predominantly Black textile workers in the area. Nine demonstrators, two news crew members, and a Klansman were injured during the raging violence.

Following the massacre, there were three trials. The first was a state trial that saw five KKK and ANP members charged with first-degree murder and felony riot. Somehow, all five were acquitted. In 1980, surviving protesters filed a civil suit against 87 individuals, alleging civil rights violations and wrongful death. Of those, eight were found liable for one protester’s wrongful death. A federal trial in 1984 also acquitted nine defendants on civil rights charges, with jurors accepting claims of self-defense despite conflicting news footage. Major outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post have highlighted the controversy surrounding the case. The legal system was pretty corrupt if you ask me.