Incident Summary:

08/04/1980: Eight white men, who were members of the Ku Klux Klan, opened shotgun fire on a black man, George Lester Stewart, while he was standing in a parking lot outside a west side bar in Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Stewart frequented the tavern which had a mostly white clientele and a white bartender, and the eight perpetrators conspired, prior to the incident, to kill Stewart because of his race, and had even threatened him the month prior to the attack. After the attack in the parking lot failed to injure him, the perpetrators attempted to shoot him with automatic rifles at his residence and altogether fired 27 shots. Neither Stewart, nor any other individuals were wounded in either attack. Charles Furtaw, Donald Johnson, Raymond Eugene Echlin, Eugene John, Walter Belcher, Richard Johnson, Ronald Bishop, and Joseph Greenwell were the eight arrested and charged in the attack, and four of them pleaded guilty in court.

GTD ID:
198008040008

When:
1980-08-04

Country:
United States

Region:
North America

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Michigan

City:
Detroit

Location Details:
outside a tavern on the west side of Detroit and also at residence

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Armed Assault
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property
Name of Entity
Specific Description black man, George Lester Stewart, who frequented a tavern with white clientele and white bartender
Nationality of Target United States
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Unknown
Extent of Property Damage Unknown
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Firearms Rifle/Shotgun (non-automatic)
Firearms Automatic Weapon
Weapon Details
shotgun and an M-16 automatic rifle
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Additional Information Upon capturing the perpetrators in a series of early-morning raids, the FBI uncovered and seized about 50 handguns, shotguns, and rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and a variety of KKK literature and other paraphernalia.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Ku Klux Klan No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 8
Number of Captured Perpetrators 8
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 0 Fatalities / 0 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 0
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 0
Total Number of Injured 0
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
"Eight accused in racial shooting," Baltimore Afro-American, August 16, 1980.
"Government wants stiff sentences for Klansmen," United Press International, January 1, 1981.
Christopher Hewitt, "Political Violence and Terrorism in Modern America: A Chronology," Praeger Security International, 2005.