Virgil Lee Griffin
Virgil Lee Griffin (February 27, 1944 – February 11, 2009) was a leader of a Ku Klux Klan chapter in North Carolina who was involved in the November 3, 1979, Greensboro massacre, a violent clash by the KKK and American Nazi Party with labor organizers and activists from the Communist Workers Party at a legal march in the county seat of Guilford County. It resulted in the deaths of five marchers, including a woman.[1]
Early life
Griffin was born to Johnny and Lizzie Griffin.
He joined the
Greensboro massacre
His activities with the Klan brought Griffin notoriety. But his leadership of joint KKK and American Nazi Party members to confront a November 3, 1979, march in Greensboro by members of the Communist Workers Party gained him national coverage and notoriety. [3] A violent confrontation erupted after Klansmen drove through the gathering activists, who responded by hitting the cars. The KKK and ANP members took rifles, shotguns, and handguns from their cars and started shooting, killing five marchers, four of whom were CWP members. A woman CWP member was among those killed. Four of the dead were white men; one was a black woman.[4]
On the morning of the shootings, Griffin's Klansmen and American Nazis, in a nine-vehicle caravan, veered from the destination and at 11:30 drove through a group of people gathering for the noon rally. The police were not yet in place to protect the marchers, who had a permit for the event. Griffin said he told his members to go without robes and guns, but many had rifles, shotguns and handguns in the trunks of their cars.[3]
"We had just planned to fly our American flags across the street to show them we love our country," Griffin said.[3]
Witnesses agreed that the marchers began hitting the cars, but accounts differed widely as to the next events. The marchers contended that the Klansmen and the Nazis left their cars and opened fire with shotguns, rifles and pistols; video coverage confirmed this. Five marchers were killed and 10 injured. The Klansmen and Nazis contended that they reacted in self-defense to having their cars attacked. They said the marchers fired the first shot. Griffin said the shots that hit the demonstrators were not aimed at them.[1]
"Someone fired a shot -- and all hell broke loose," Griffin said. "We had every right to be drive down that street with nobody touching the cars. I didn't come to shoot or kill nobody."[3]
While Griffin said that the shootings were not planned, a police informant had advised the police that the group intended to have violent confrontation. Despite this, the police were not in place before the march. Klansmen claimed the fight broke out between the groups because Communists tried to pull a 79-year-old Klansman out of his car.[4]
In 1980, six Klansmen and Nazis, not including Griffin, were prosecuted by the state for first-degree murder and felony riot. They were acquitted by an all-white jury, which concluded they acted in self-defense. In 1984, after a three-month federal civil rights trial, Griffin was among nine Klan members acquitted in federal court, also by an all-white jury, on charges of violating the marchers' civil rights.[1][3][4]
In 2005, Griffin told a group studying the Greensboro massacre that he never would have gone to the rally had he not been goaded by the inflammatory rhetoric of the labor organizers.[3] At a forum in 2005, Griffin was asked why no Klansmen were killed in the crossfire: "Maybe God guided the bullets."[1][3][4]
KKK and other activity
In 1965, Griffin and another man were convicted of posing as detectives investigating a racial incident at a school. In 1980, Griffin and another Klan members were charged for a cross burning in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Griffin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one to three years in the county jail, with six months suspended. He was also placed on probation for 2.5 years. Sherer was sentenced one to three years in prison, with all but six months suspended, plus three years of probation.[3][5]
In 1979, Griffin was identified in
For most of the last three decades, the Klan has lost both prominence and viciousness, according to the
Personal life and death
Griffin was married to Linda Griffin and they had six children: Linda, Shirley, John, James, Christine and Virgil Lee, Jr.[1][2] Griffin resided in Mount Holly, North Carolina.[3][6]
By the late 1990s, Griffin had suffered two
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Martin, Douglas (17 February 2009). "Virgil Lee Griffin, Klan Leader, Dies at 64". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Virgil Griffin Obituary". The Gaston Gazette. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "KKK leader Virgil Griffin dies". WCNC-TV. 1 November 2009. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "Leader of N.C. Ku Klux Klan dies". NBCNews.com. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
- ^ "Today in History: Gaston's Virgil Griffin accused in deadly KKK shooting". The Gaston Gazette. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.