Anti-Klan protesters to appeal conviction

After being convicted in September of assault with a dangerous weapon for his participation in an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally, Thomas Doxey and his attorney are still adamant about his innocence and vow they will appeal the ruling.

Of the 21 anti-Klan protesters arrested, Doxey was the only one convicted.

Doxey's attorney, Marinade Massie, lent her opinions on her client's conviction in a press conference Friday.

"It was based on perjury. It was an inaccurate conviction. The one eyewitness against Mr. Doxey, an undercover narcotics agent, is ... a highly trained liar," Massie said.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Washtenaw County Joseph Burke said he is personally offended by Massie's implication that Officer Michael Lencioni perjured himself.

"I think it is incredibly offensive, unethical and unprofessional of her to say that," Burke said, adding that, "She is accusing the officer of a crime and I strongly believe that is not the case."

In May 1998, Doxey, a 22-year-old East Lansing resident, took part in a protest of the KKK on the steps of Ann Arbor's Guy C. Larcom Municipal Building which resulted in violence when a fence separating the KKK and protesters was torn down and bottles were thrown. Doxey's attorney maintains that not only is he innocent of committing violence during the protest but he is a non-violent person.

"He was there, protesting peacefully ... and the police are trying to scapegoat him. All Tommy wanted to do was to communicate to the Klan that they are not welcome ... in southeast Michigan," Massie said.

Burke said he thought the protest, even though it opposed the KKK, should never have turned

violent.

"I think when anybody uses violence, whether it's against the Klan or anybody, it's wrong," he said.

Though Doxey's attorney described him as docile, the group with which he attended the protest, Anti-Racist Action, is considered by some to promote violence as an acceptable means of protest.

Thom Saffold, a member of a peace team at the May 1998 protest, said he believes ARA supports violence.

"ARA implies that it's OK to use violence to achieve their ends and I'm not sure I agree with that," Saffold said.

According to ARA's Columbus, Ohio chapter Website, which sent representatives to the Ann Arbor protest, one of the groups fundamental principles is to stand behind their members under any circumstances. A portion of their self description reads, "An attack on any one of us is an attack on us all."

Philosophy Prof. Eric Lormand, who served as a liaison between the peace team and the protesters, said he felt the protesters' actions were justified.

"Their actions were perfectly reasonable acts of self defense. I think violence is justified in self defense and a Klan rally is an indirect attack," Lormand said.

"Breaking a window is not plan A, but if someone sprays you with pepper gas it is legitimate," he added.

Burke, saying that he did not think Doxey's appeal would be successful, added that violent protest will be tolerated by the city.

"When someone commits a crime of this sort, it is wrong and we will see that they are charged," he said.

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