The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-08-08
Jury TO. HEAR XII
KLUX KHAN CASES
BEING SELECTED ::..||:]
Thirty Members OF Invisible
Empire Face Charges as
Result Of Murders

Los ANGELES, Cal, Aug. g..
Selection OF Jury to try thirty
members of. the Ku Klux Khan on
wood raid last April were Tesu M
ed in Superior Court today.
When court adjourned yester-
day, seven women and I'VE men
werein the jury box
A night raid by masked men at
1ng!cwood, suburb of Los An
geles, on April %, 1922, resulting
in the Staying of one raider and
the wounding OF two others, was
followed by an investigation in
which the. first definite charges
were made that the Ku Klux Khan
of the present day is engaged IN
deeds OF violence. Forty-threetpe per-
sons were indicted by the Los An
geles County grand jury for false
imprisonment, Kidnapping and as
sault with intent to commit muir
der IN connection with the raid
Th:rty-seven OF the accused were
mentioned by name and six, uni
IDENTIFIED at the time, as John
Does.' Those named included Will
liam S. Price, King kleagle Of the
khan forlthe state Of California, and
Nathan a. Baker, Kleagle, or or
ganizer, for Los Angeles County.
The victims OF the Inglewood
raid were Fide1 and Matthias Ed
uayen. brothers, proprietors Of a
winery near Inglewood, operating
under federal license. a crowd
Of men estimated as numbering
from so to $50 entered the Elduay-
en- place, bound the brothers ana
carried them to the Ing1ewood city
Jail and asked to have them locked
up as 9..''boot1eggers." The jailer re-
fused. The ElduayenS were then
carried to Redondo Beach, ten
miles away, and 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
rode up In motor
cycle and was ordered to halt by
one Of the group of masked men,
who ,were;-guarding the highway
The deputy displayed the badge,
whereup on he testified later, sew
eral revo1vers were 1evelled at
him. He drew his own weapon and
fired into the crowd, three men
falling. Woerner continued firing
until his ammunition was exhaust
ed, 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. Nosh-
er, Inglewood constable Walter E.
Nosher, his son, and Leonard
Ruegg, a deputy constable. The
elder Nosher died about an hour
after he was shot.
Meanwhile the E1duayens had
been set free several miles from
their home.
An inquest was held three days
after the raid, in an Ing1ewood UNI
dert akfng esta blishment. Blake E.
Shambeau, a traffic officer, testt
fled that the raid had been organ
lied the night Of April 21, in the
same room where the inquest was
being held, and that at the same
meeting candidates for admission
to the Ku Klux Khan had been
identified by Baker. He and other
witnesses said Baker led the raid
ers IL the attack upon the E1duay-
ems. Coburn testified he was in In
glewood that night, declaring he
went tnere because ne heard there
was some kind OF trouble and hs
wanted to make sure no Klansmen
were mixed up In it. 5f
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 Klux
Khan. Later District Attorney
Thomas Lee Woolwine declared
the documents contained con
elusive evidence" that the Khan
was officially concerned with the
Inglewood raid and with other acts
of violence in its Pacific Do
main"
The Los Angeles grand jury ex-
amfned about 125 witnesses IN add
ition to checking over the docu-
evidence. Coburn and
Price were in Atlanta, Ca, where
the supreme headquarters of the
Khan were located, when the in
dictment was filed, but returned
and furnished bail. All the others
also gave bail.
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