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The Greensboro massacre occurred on November 3, 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was the culmination of attempts by the Maoist Communist Workers Party (CWP) to organise industrial workers, predominantly black, in the area.
On the day in question, a rally of industrial workers and communists against the Ku Klux Klan, then active in the area, was due to march in Greensboro. Normally at such events, marchers carried firearms openly for self-defence, as allowed under North Carolina law. However, on this day the marchers were unarmed. It is alleged that the police had prevailed upon them not to carry weapons so as to avoid trouble. It has also been alleged that the protestors were armed, but evidence suggests that only one protestor had a firearm. 5 marchers were killed.
Two criminal trials resulted in acquital of all defendants. A civil suit against the perpetrators and the city of Greensboro was later to result in a $300,000 payout. This payout formed the basis of the Greensboro Justice Fund (http://www.gjf.org), which "supports organizations in the south that work against and denounce various forms of discrimination by providing direct charitable aid, including food, shelter, clothing, legal expenses, etc."
The generally accepted version of events is that a combined contingent of Klansmen and members of the American Nazi Party attended the rally. Accounts vary as to whether they were set upon by the demonstrators or not, but they were armed, opened fire at the demonstrators, killing several immediately and wounding others, some fatally.
One of the most dubious aspects of the incident is the role of the police. Normally, the police would have been present at such an event, yet by all accounts, no police witnessed the shooting, or in any way intervened, thus permitting the perpetrators to escape. This has unsurprisingly led to accusations of police collusion in the event, up to allegations that the police escorted the shooters to the event.
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The Klansman and Nazi party members involved were not from Greensboro, but came to the city in response to a challenge from the march organizers. Articles in the Greensboro News and Record at the time indicated that the police were not at the scene initially, because the march organizers gave them an incorrect address for the march on their parade permit. However,
It has also been noted that the Klan caravan was organized by a man later found to be an informant for the police, using the parade permit to guide the caravan to the correct address (see http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Cointelpro/Eddie_Conway_Political_Prisoner_et_al.html), in radio contact with the police all the while the caravan was forming and proceeding to the site of the shootings , and that the police were on the scene early, but had been dismissed 'for lunch,' just prior to the shootings (see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/102.html).
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