KKK opponents speak out against conviction

Carrying signs bearing anti-racism slogans, nearly 20 people rallied yesterday afternoon outside the Washtenaw County Courthouse to protest the conviction of anti-Ku Klux Klan protester Tommy Doxey.

Doxey, a 21-year-old East Lansing resident, was convicted less than two weeks ago for assaulting a police officer during a demonstration in the summer of 1998. The 1998 demonstration was in protest of a KKK rally held in front of the Guy C. Larcom Municipal Building.

"We want the public to know that Tommy Doxey is innocent," said Doxey's lawyer, Miranda Massie.

Massie claims there is evidence that police Officer Michael Lencioni committed perjury during the trail. Lencioni's testimony was integral in convicting Doxey, she said.

ALLISON CANTOR/Daily Tommy Doxey, who was convicted of assaulting an officer at a 1998 anti-Klu Klux Klan rally, stands outside the Washtenaw County Courthouse yesterday.

Lencioni testified that at the rally, Doxey was the only protester dressed all in black, Massie said. Doxey's clothing matched the description of a subject seen throwing rocks at a police officer.

Massie said yesterday that Doxey was not the only person who fit that description.

"There were police photos showing people around (Doxey) dressed all in black," Massie said.

"We will of course be filing a motion for a new trial in the next short while," Massie said. She said that other motions pertaining to the case are delaying the appeal.

Law third-year student Jodi Masley was among those at yesterday's protest.

"Lencioni is an undercover narcotics officer," Masley said. "His job is to lie professionally and well. (Agents) learn to frame people when they need to, and to lie in court when they need to, and that's what (Lencioni) did."

Doxey's supporters believe he was convicted to justify Ann Arbor city officials' decision to allow the Klan to hold a rally.

"This whole thing is to stop people from coming out to protest against the KKK," said Shanta Driver, a National Women's Rights Organization member who was at yesterday's protest.

Tiffany Bloom, one of yesterday's protesters, said the City of Ann Arbor spent $130,000 on the Klan rally and claimed that amount of money spent put pressure on prosecutors to convict a protester.

"There is a witch hunt against anti-racists in Ann Arbor," protester Caroline Wong claimed, who attended the 1998 rally.

"I know that Tommy is innocent," she said.

Doxey was present at yesterday's protest but declined to comment.

Washtenaw County Prosecutor Joe Burke showed little concern about the protest or the motion for a new trial, and stressed his confidence in the Doxey's conviction.

"I think we proved what happened (during the trial)," he said. "I'm a believer in the jury system."

He also addressed Massie's claims about Lencioni.

"I think that the notion a police officer is going to put his or her career on the line by perjuring themselves is ridiculous," Burke said.

Court proceedings for another of the anti-Klan protesters began yesterday. Robin Alvarez is charged with inciting a riot during the 1998 demonstration.

Massie is also handling that case, and motions filed yesterday challenge the constitutionality of the riot law, she said. The trial is formally set to begin Oct. 25.

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