Minneapolis spokesman., 1962-09-21
Grondniece Of LocoI
Men Shof In Miss.
vofinq ConfroVers,

Ruleville, Miss. - Especially One
of the young school girls shot
here last week in an attempt to
frighten Negroes to halt a vote
registration campaign was the
grand-niece of two Minneapolis
men Ramon L. Sisson, 1929 Port
land Av., and James H. Sisson,
1900 Oakland Av. 8.
The young women were Vivian
Hilly, the Sisson's relative and
Marylene Burkes, both Of Cleve-
land, Miss, about 80 miles from
this town.
The two young women strange
as it may seem were not active
in the Student Vote Registration
drive which has attracted so much
attention this summer in the
South. Actually they were on their
way to Jackson, Miss, to register
at Jackson State College.
They were stopping with Mr..
and Mrs. Herman Sisson, Miss
Hilly's grandparents, here In Rule
vile. He is the brother of the Sis
son brothers in Minneapolis.
AS the family was sitting in the
living room some persons or per-
son fired shotgun whose pellets
wounded both of the young pros
pective college students.
Mrs. Sisson has been active in
getting the Negro population Of
the county on the polls books.
The FBI is investigating the
shooting as President Kennedy
has denounced it as reprehensible.
Sunflower County where the
ambush" shooting occurred is the
home county of Sen. James o.
Eastland, an archsegregationist
and chairman Of the Senate Jud-
iciary Committee, whose subcom-
mittee delayed the confirmation of
Federal Judge Thurgood Marshall
for several months.
The investigation by the FBI
was being conducted amid charges
by the Student Non-violent Coor-
dinating Committee that segrega-
tionists were affecting economic
reprisals against Negroes active in
the voter registration. The SNCC
reported that two cleaning shops
have been closed down and that
seven other Negroes have lost
their jobs. One Of the cleaning
shops was owned by Lafayette
Surney, whose son has been par
ticipating in the registration drive,
the sNCC reported.
Mayor c. M. borough, In seek
ing to present an alibi for the
shooting, said he believed the
shooting was ''prefabricated" in
cident. I'VE think they did it them
Selves hoping to draw publicity,
the mayor said alluding to those
engaged in the voter registration
drive.
The FBI, however, seemed def
initely Of a different opinion. It
asked the mayor to investigate
the case.
Meanwhile, the shootings, which
the SNCC said was done from a
speeding car, brought demands
from the student organization and
Medgar Evers, field secretary for
the jackson (Miss.) branch Of the
NAACP, for immediate federal &C
tion by President Kennedy and
Atty. General Robert Kennedy.
The SNCC also charged that
Charles Cobb, a Howard universi-
ty student from Roxbury, Mass,
was arrested by Mayor Dorrough's
police as he tried to visit the two
wounded girls Mississippi Univer-
sity Hospital In Jackson.
Asked about the arrest, Dor
rough said Cobb had a pencil and
lpad out asking a lot Of silly ques-
tons" He accused Cobb Of Great
ing a disturbance at the hospital,
In admitting the arrest.
Miss Burkes, meanwhile, was
said to be undergoing surgery at
the hospital. She was wounded by
a shotgun pellet in the head The
other girl was wounded In the arm
and leg. Both were at first report
ed as not being in serious condi-
tion. However, the sNCC reported
that Miss Burkes was In critical
condition"
The sNcc and CORE opened a
Negro voter registration drive In
SunfIower County last Aug. IA.
Ruleville Ii In Sunflower Coun-
ty. Tho county has q Negro vot-
ing age population 70 1S,624 out
Of q total population of 21.Soe.
but only 1e1 Negroes are officially