LONGSHOREMEN (ILA)
South Carolina Rioters Indicted
S.C. Atty. Gen. Charles M. Condon announced Feb. 8. that a grand jury
in Charleston, S.C., has indicted four union-represented dockworkers for
their roles in a Jan. 20 Int'l Longshoremen's Ass'n
protest that turned into a street war between several hundred longshoremen
and 600 riot police. The unionists were rioting over the use of nonunion
stevedores by a Danish shipping line that had previously used union labor.
Condon said that four people, Elijah Ford, Jr., Rickey Simmons, Kenneth Jefferson and Jason Edgerton, all members of ILA Local 1422, were charged with criminal conspiracy and riot. Ford was charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, while another was charged with assault. The two others were charged with resisting arrest. The assault charges are the most serious and carry prison sentences of up to 10 years, while the riot and criminal conspiracy charges carry jail terms of up to five years. Resisting arrest is punishable by a year in jail. The sentences also can include fines, said Condon, who added that the investigation is continuing. [Post & Courier 2/9/00, BNA 2/10/00]
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