Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-03
KHAN MEMBERS
To Be TRIED
Los Angeles Raid Resulting in
Death of One on Night of
April %

Los ANGELES. Aug. "a night
raid by masked men at Inglewood,
a suburb of Los Angeles, on April
%, 1922, resulting in the Staying of
raider and the w%ounding of two
others, was followed by an investi-
CATION in which the first definite
charges were made that the Ku
klux Khan of the present day is en-
gagged in deeds of violence. Forty
three persons were indicted by the
Los Angeles county grand jury for
false imprisonment, kidnapping and
assault with intent to commit muir
der in connection with the raid.
Thirty-seven of the accused were
mentioned by name and six, uniden-
titled at the time, as John Does"
Those named included William s.
Coburn. grand goblin of the Pacific
domain of the Ku Klux Khan; G. w.
Price, king kleagle of the khan for
the state of California, and Nathan
a. Baker. kleagle, or organizer, for
Los Angeles county.
The victims of the Inglewood raid
were Fidel and Matthias Elduayen,
brothers, proprietors of a winery
near Inglewood, operating under a
federal license. A crowd of men
estimated as numbering from so to
$50 entered the Elduayen place,
bound the brothers and carried them
to the Inglewood city Jail and asked
to have them locked up as bootleg
gers" The jailer refused. The
Elduayens were then carried to Re-
dondo Beach, ten miles away. and a
similar attempt was made at the
lookup there. with the same result.
While the raiders were surround
ing the Elduayen place, Frank T.
Woerner, deputy city marshal of
I~nSlewood, rode up in a motorcycle
and was ordered to halt by one OF
the group of masked men who were
guarding the highway. The deputy
displayed his badge, whereupon, he
testified later, several revolvers were
leveled al him. He drew his own
weapon and fired into the crowd.
three men falling. Woerner contin-
ued firing until his ammunition was
exhausted, then returned to the
Inglewood police station for more.
When he got back to the scene of
the raid the crowd had dispersed.
The three men shot by Woerner
were carried into the town where
they were found to be M. b. Mosher
Inglewood constable; Walter E. Mo-
sher, his son and Leonard Ruegg, a
deputy constable. The elder Mosher
died about an hour after he was
shot.
Meanwhile the Elduayens mad
been set free several miles from
their home.
An inquest was held three days
after the raid. in an Inglewood un-
dertaking establishment. Blake Il.
Shambeau, a traffic officer, testified
that the raid had been organized the
night of April Fl, in the same room
where the inquest was being held,
and that at the same meeting can
didates for admission to the Ku
Klux Khan had been identified by
Baker. He apd other witnesses
said Baker led the raiders in the
attack upon the Elduayens. Coburn
testified he was in Inglewood hat
night, declaring he went there be-
cause he heard there was some kind
Of trouble and he wanted to make
sure no Klansmen were mixed up in
it. -
A few days after the inquest a
squad of deputy sheriffs equipped
with search warrants, entered Co
burns office and seized all docu-
ments relating to the Ku kldx
Khan. Later District Attorney
Thomas Lee Woolwine declared the
documents contained conclusive
evidence that the Khan was ofici-
ally concerned with the Inglewood
raid and with other acts of violence
in it's Pacific Domain"
The Los Angeles grand jury exam
ined about 1875 witnesses in addition
to checking over the documentary
evidence. Coburn and Price were
in Atlanta. Ga, where the supreme
headquarters of the Khan were To-
Gated. when the indictment was filed.
but returned and furnished bail. All
the others also gave bail.