FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1996                         (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
       FOUR NORTH CAROLINA MEN CHARGED WITH CROSS-BURNING
                                
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four North Carolina men were charged
today with burning two crosses on the lawn of a home occupied by
a racially-mixed couple near Waynesville, North Carolina, the
Justice Department announced.

     Since January, the Justice Department has brought more than
20 cases stemming from cross-burning incidents across the
country, involving at least 30 defendants.

     The three count indictment, returned on June 25, and
unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Asheville, charges
Leonard Haynes, Martin King, Alfred Smith, and Eugene Smith, all
of the Waynesville area, with violating federal criminal civil
rights laws.  

     According to the indictment, the four conspired to burn a
cross in front of a trailer, located in a rural area between
Waynesville and Clyde, North Carolina, because it was occupied by
Gordon Cullins and Hazel Annette Sutton, a mixed-race couple.

     "Today's case underscores our commitment to investigating
these crimes until they are solved," said Deval L. Patrick,
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.  "Hateful acts like
cross burnings strike at the heart of the community and must be
stopped."

     The indictment alleged that in the fall of 1992, the
defendants, members of a large family, began planning to burn a
cross at the trailer in order force the mixed-race couple out of
the trailer park.  On New Years Eve, December 31, 1995, at the
home of Alfred and Eugene Smith, the defendants constructed the
crosses, wrapped them in rags and soaked them with flammable
liquids.  They then transported the crosses to the trailer, set
them afire in the early morning hours, and shouted racial slurs
and threats as the crosses burned.

     Count one of the indictment charges the four with conspiring
to violate civil rights statutes, count two charges that the
defendants used force or threat of force against individuals
exercising their right to occupy a dwelling, and count three
charges the four with using fire to commit a felony.

      If convicted, each face up to 21 years in prison and fines
of up to $600,000.
     "We will continue to smother the flames of racial hatred,"
added Patrick.

     This case was investigated by the Asheville office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

     Two weeks ago, a Maine man pled guilty to burning a cross in
a neighborhood in Augusta where multi-racial families reside. 
That week, as well, two Ohio men pled guilty to felony civil
rights violations for burning a cross in front of the home of an
African-American family near Mansfield, Ohio.

96-533                         ###