Evening star., 1961-05-30
Martial Law Lifted in Montgomery;
Trial Told of Effort to Halt Beotinq

Ger replied, THE men he would
send out probably would have
Joined the mob. :"
Named in Suit
Mr.. Mann referred to L. B.
Sullivan, Montgomery police
commissioner. Mr.. Sullivan and
Police Chief G. J. Ruppenthal
of Montgomery, Police Com
missioner Eugene Connor and
Chief Jamie Moore of Birming-
ham, and Claude v. Henley, q
former Montgomery reserve
policeman, are named in the
suit in addition to the Klan
and several Klan leaders.
Calvin Whitesell, attorney for
Mr.. Sullivan and Mr.. Ruppen-
thai, said he thought the de-
fense made a strong point on
cross-examination of Montgom-
cry FBI Agent Spencer Robb.
He drew from Mr.. Robb testi-
mony that the FBI had received
no prior reports that any vio-
lence was likely when the Free
dom Riders reached Montgom-
cry.
Mr.. Robb said Assistant Po-
lice Chief Marvin Stanley told
him about an hour before the
bus arrived that police were
alerted and there would be no
trouble.
He quoted the police officer
as saying the riders would be
permitted to use facilities of
the bus station in line with
court decisions against segrega-
ton, but that they would not
be permitted to integrate other
places in the city.
Klan Barely Mentioned
Most of the first days testi-
mony concerned the trouble in
Montgomery and, except on
cross-examination, the Klan
was not mentioned. Attorneys
for the Klan asked almost every
witness if they saw any Klans-
men among the fighters and
the answer invariably was that
the witness knew no Klans-
men by sight.
Mr.. Fisher also testified that
he saw one Of the individual
defendants in the injunction
suit, Thurman QUITS Of Mont
gomery, help another white
man drag a Negro out of a
taxicab.
A newSpaperman, Dan o.
Dove, jr.. told the court he
saw no city police at the bus
station for some 90 minutes
after the bus arrived.
Mr.. DOVE, describing the at
tack on white Freedom Rider,
James Zwerg of Appleton, Wis,
said the mob seemed to single
him out"
They grabbed his briefcase,"
the reporter continued, "and
began to beat him in the face
with it. Then they began beat
ing him in the face with their
fists and beat him to the
ground. Some heavy-set man
proceeded to kick him. Al
heavy-set man locked his .(Mr. |
Zwerg's) head between his legs
and several others hit him"
Says Policeman Left
One of the Freedom Riders
who escaped the mob, Patricia
Ann Jenkins. Is, a student at
Tennessee A6SI College at
Nashville, said she saw a police
man drive off Just as the bus
reached the downtown terminal.
Miss Jenkins said the riot
started when a man in a white
shirt. with a cigar in his mouth,
attacked a photographer. 9th
ers Joined in, she said, and the
photographers camera was
snatched from him and
smashed.
The Negro coed, in response
to a question from Mr.. White
sell. said the Freedom Riders
made no request to Federal
authorities for protection be-
fore leaving Birmingham. She
said they did not expect vio-
lence here.
Late in the day, testimony
shifted to the Birmingham vio-
lence, which occurred May IA.
Tells Of Telegram
The Western Union district
manager in Birmingham, Ted
A. May, testified his office de-
livered to Birmingham police
the morning of May II tele-
gram signed by F. L. Shuttles-
worth and C. H. Oliver. Mr..
Shuttlesworth is a Negro min
lister long active in integration
movements.
Mr.. May said the telegram,
marked to the attention Of the
police commissioner and chief,
warned that Mr.. Shuttlesworth
and Mr.. Oliver had been told
the Freedom Riders would be
attacked when they reached
Birmingham.
Clancy Lake, news director
of WAPI-TV and radio in
Birmingham, said he saw five
or six white men battling a
similar number of Negroes at
the Trailways bus station.
Three white men knocked out
his car windows and beat him
with blackjacks while he was
broadcasting an account of the
disorder, Mr.. Lake said. Police
arrived about six minutes after
fighting broke out, Mr.. Lake
testified.