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1979 Greensboro Killings

SOLVED1979Morningside Homes, Greensboro, North Carolina3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

On November 3, 1979, members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the National Socialist Party of America (NSPA) opened fire on participants in a "Death to the Klan" march in Greensboro, North Carolina, killing five demonstrators and wounding twelve other people. The march had been organized by the Communist Workers Party (CWP), whose members had spent years organizing textile and hospital workers and campaigning for racial justice in the Carolina Piedmont. Four of those killed were CWP members; the fifth, Michael Nathan, was a physician supporting his wife, a CWP member.

The confrontation grew out of months of escalating hostility. The CWP, formerly the Workers Viewpoint Organization, had recruited Black and white workers in Greensboro and Durham since 1976 and came into conflict with a local Klan chapter and the NSPA. After activists disrupted a screening of The Birth of a Nation, a 1915 film that portrayed the Klan in heroic terms, in China Grove in July 1979, both sides exchanged threats. CWP flyers called for the Klan to be driven out of town, and organizers publicly challenged the Klan to appear at the march.

As marchers gathered at the Morningside Homes housing project around 11:20 a.m., a caravan of cars carrying an estimated 40 Klan and NSPA members drove past. After heckling and a brief physical clash, a Klansman fired the first shot; caravan members then retrieved long guns and fired on the marchers, some of whom returned fire with handguns. Four demonstrators died at the scene, and Nathan died of his wounds two days later. Four television news crews filmed the shooting, and the footage was broadcast nationally and internationally.

The criminal cases ended without murder convictions. In November 1980, an all-white state jury acquitted the accused Klansmen after they claimed self-defense. A 1983 federal grand jury indicted nine men on civil rights charges, and on April 15, 1984, all were acquitted by another all-white jury. Mark Sherer, who admitted firing the first shot, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and was the only person found guilty of a crime in the case. In a 1985 civil suit, Waller v. Butkovich, a federal jury found two Klansmen, three neo-Nazis, two Greensboro police officers, and a police informant liable for one wrongful death, and the city of Greensboro paid the judgment.

Investigations later established that undercover agents had infiltrated both the Klan and the NSPA and that a police informant riding in the lead caravan car had warned officers of possible armed violence that morning; no police were present when the shooting began. In 2004, private citizens formed the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which reported in 2006 that the Klan and NSPA had intended a violent confrontation and that police bore significant responsibility. The city issued a statement of regret in 2009, unveiled a historical marker in 2015, and approved a formal apology in 2020.

Key facts

Victims
James Waller, Sandra Neely Smith, Michael Nathan, Cesar Cauce, William Evan Sampson
Date
1979
Location
Morningside Homes, Greensboro, North Carolina
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1973

    The Workers Viewpoint Organization, which later became the Communist Workers Party, was founded in New York.

  2. 1976

    Organization members came to North Carolina and began recruiting Black and white textile and healthcare workers in Greensboro and Durham.

  3. 1979-07

    Activists disrupted a screening of The Birth of a Nation in China Grove, North Carolina, escalating tensions with the Ku Klux Klan.

  4. 1979-10

    The Workers Viewpoint Organization renamed itself the Communist Workers Organization and planned a 'Death to the Klan' march in Greensboro.

  5. 1979-11-03

    Ku Klux Klan and National Socialist Party of America members shot and killed four demonstrators at the Morningside Homes housing project; twelve others were wounded.

  6. 1979-11-05

    Michael Nathan, wounded in the shooting, died of his injuries at the hospital two days after the attack, bringing the death toll to five.

  7. 1979-11-11

    A funeral march for the five victims was held in Greensboro under National Guard protection.

  8. 1980-11-17

    An all-white state jury acquitted the accused Klansmen of murder, finding they had acted in self-defense.

  9. 1983

    A federal grand jury indicted nine men on civil rights charges; Mark Sherer later pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge for firing the first shot.

  10. 1984-04-15

    All nine defendants were acquitted in the federal criminal civil rights trial.

  11. 1985-06-08

    In the civil suit Waller v. Butkovich, a federal jury found several defendants liable for one wrongful death and levied a $351,000 judgment.

  12. 2004

    Private citizens founded the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the events of November 1979.

  13. 2006-05

    The Commission reported its findings, concluding the Klan and NSPA intended a violent confrontation and that police bore significant responsibility.

  14. 2009-06-17

    The Greensboro City Council issued a statement of regret about the 1979 incident.

  15. 2015-05-24

    The City of Greensboro unveiled a historical marker acknowledging the 1979 events.

  16. 2020-10-06

    The Greensboro City Council approved a resolution apologizing for the incident.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • James Waller

    VICTIM

    Physician and president of a local textile workers union; killed at the scene on November 3, 1979.

  • Edward Dawson

    ACQUITTED

    Klansman and paid FBI and Greensboro police informant who rode in the lead caravan car; charged with conspiracy in the 1984 federal trial and acquitted.

  • Jack Wilson Fowler

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with murder in the 1980 state trial and with civil rights violations in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted in both.

  • Rayford Milano Caudle

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with conspiracy to violate the demonstrators' civil rights in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted.

  • Jerry Paul Smith

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with murder in the 1980 state trial and with civil rights violations in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted in both.

  • Sandra Neely Smith

    VICTIM

    Civil rights activist and Bennett College graduate organizing textile workers; killed at the scene on November 3, 1979.

  • Coleman Blair Pridmore

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with conspiracy to violate the demonstrators' civil rights in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted.

  • Roland Wayne Wood

    ACQUITTED

    NSPA member charged with conspiracy to violate the demonstrators' civil rights in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted.

  • Harold Dean Flowers

    ACQUITTED

    Klansman charged with murder in the 1980 state trial; acquitted.

  • Michael Nathan

    VICTIM

    Pediatrician supporting his wife, a CWP member; died of his wounds two days after the shooting.

  • Cesar Cauce

    VICTIM

    Communist Workers Party member and union organizer at Duke Hospital; killed at the scene on November 3, 1979.

  • Mark Sherer

    CONVICTED

    Klansman who admitted firing the first shot; pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and was the only person found guilty of a crime in the case.

  • Bernard Butkovich

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Undercover agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who infiltrated the NSPA before the march and testified at the 1985 civil trial.

  • David Wayne Matthews

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with murder in the 1980 state trial and with civil rights violations in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted in both.

  • Virgil Lee Griffin Sr.

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with conspiracy to violate the demonstrators' civil rights in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted.

  • Billy Joe Franklin

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with murder in the 1980 state trial; acquitted.

  • William Evan Sampson

    VICTIM

    Harvard Divinity graduate and medical student who organized textile workers; killed at the scene on November 3, 1979.

  • Roy Clinton Toney

    ACQUITTED

    Charged with conspiracy to violate the demonstrators' civil rights in the 1984 federal trial; acquitted.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Morningside Homes, Greensboro, North Carolina

36.0655, -79.7639

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On November 3, 1979, Ku Klux Klan and National Socialist Party of America members shot and killed five anti-Klan demonstrators at a march in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the criminal defendants were later acquitted.
Where did the killings happen?
Morningside Homes, Greensboro, North Carolina.
Who was convicted?
Mark Sherer (Klansman who admitted firing the first shot; pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and was the only person found guilty of a crime in the case.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in North Carolina

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICGreensboro massacreWikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. PRESSAgent Tells of '79 Threats by Klan and NazisThe New York Times · 2026-07-05
  3. PRESSWashington Post coverage of the Greensboro massacreThe Washington Post · 2026-07-05

Record history

First published
JUL 06, 2026
Last verified against sources
JUL 06, 2026