A 16- year- old boy of Panamanian descent who took a violent beating from two well known Ku Klux Klansmen, at a county fair in Brandenburg is filing a lawsuit against them with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center. As a result of the incident in July 2006, Jordan Grover had a broken jaw and left forearm, two cracked ribs and several cuts and bruises.
Civil rights lawyer Morris Dees, whose Alabama based Southern Poverty Law Center is seeking damages on behalf of Gruver is suing the Imperial Klans of America for millions in a bid to win damages large enough to put the organization out of operation.
The two Klansmen indicted in the case are 'Imperial Wizard' Ron Edwards and 'Grand Titan' of the Ohio Klan, Jarred R. Hensley. Two others, Joshua Cowles and Andrew W. Watkins have settled out of court.
Gruver alleges that Edwards, Hensley and Watson confronted him and insulted him with racist abuses while they were on a recruitment drive at the fair. Edwards and Hensley then went on to knock him to the ground and repeatedly kick him.
Edwards, who is representing himself, stated that he was going to prove that he did not commit any violence and also, that he never taught his fellow Klan members to go out and commit violence. He also stated that he always stayed within the law.
Hensley, who is also representing himself, stated that he thought the legal system was corrupt and that he had only come to court because the law told him to.
The lawsuit also alleges that Edwards, the supremacist group's founder, uses money from the Klan's income from dues paid by Klansmen and money they earn as donations to the income they generate from merchandise, as his own personal funds.
Information from: CNN website.
Pic courtesy Image Editor from flickr.com
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