The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-12
Congressman Discusses Indict-
 ment By Grand Jury
STANDS UP FOR THE RIGHT
MT. HefIin Declares He Is Not Afraid of the Outcome and Gives Sting
 ing Rebuke to the lnsoIence
 of Washington Negroes.

Washington, May 11.-(Special)-Th grand jury of the District of Columbia today indicted Representative Thomas J. Hehin of the Fifth Alabama district for assault with a dangerous weapon" The action of the grand jury came as dis tinct surprise, owing to the fact that the negro shot by MT. Iefn had long police record and since the shooting has been sentenced to a term in jail Tor as- saulting a negro woman in this city. The indictment is in three counts, two of which relate to the shooting of Lundy and the third to the accidental shooting of the horse trainer, Thomas McCreary.
 The action of the grand jury caused much comment among democratic mem- bers of the House, many of whom share the belief of MT. Hefiin that the political phase is partly responsible for it.
 MT. Heflin, in speaking of the ndict- ment, tonight said:
 ''It is offensive and irritating to me, of course. to be annoyed by an indictment for what I did to protect a lady from the insults and insolence of an impudent Washington negro, and more especially because the indictment was found by a grand jury composed partly of negroes. I wish to say, however, that this indictment nor any other indictment accompanied by all the indignities that is sought to be in- flicted. will ever cover and humiliate me to the despicable point where l will per- init any negro in Washington ors elsn- where to insult q lady In my pre9ence
 
 "All coons look alike to me, and when a Washington negro shows the brute in him, as the negro did on the car that night, he deserves to be handled a l han dled this one. I do not in any sense re- gret what 1 did to the Washington negro on the street car for his insults and inso- 1ence. l did what l would like for any white man to do should my wife or sister be situated as the young lady was that night. I did what any gentleman should and would have done.
 'I have received more than 300 letters from the good women of Washington, thanking me for what l have done to pro- tect the lady from the indignities offered by the negro on the car, and telling me of indgnities endured on the mixed cars in this city. One wrote of how some young
  dies on a car filled largely with negroes and the negroes said They look good to me- and finally one looked at them and said, You look good to me You know, 1 think that those negroes should have been thrown from the car and punished for their insolence. This is just one of the many revolting and outrageous things that white women have to submit to in this city, where the meanest and most im- pudent negroes in the world live.
 'The negro Lundy sent his representa- tive to MT. Clayton and asked him if would not give him some money to keep down an indictment, and MT. Clayton told him that l would not give him one cent that I did right in the matter and was clearly justified in shooting him. l do not fear the outcome of a trial. No white man who has the proper appreciation of the proprieties of such an occasion as confronted me will ever return a dollar fine against me.
 "It is reported to me that Foraker 8 friends urged indictment. They are trying to secure the negro delegates from the district of Columbia The republican party is slowly but surely disgusting ev- erybody with the rotten deception prac- ticed on the negro' w. S.