"BLACK LEGION”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 122, 25 May 1936, Page 7

"BLACK LEGION”

Ritual Murder in U.S. MASKED ORGANISATION WIDESPREAD ACTIVITIES OFFSHOOT OF KLU KLUX KLAN t ! .B* Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright] Received May 24, 7.50 p.m. DriTiiOir, ALay 23. . The police to-day exposed a strange masked organisation known j as “The Black Legion,’’ tne leaders of which are charged witn f practising ritual murder, cn May ( 13 the body of Charles Poole, a young worker on a Federal relief project, was found shot near a ( suburban road. According to the ( police some members of tne Black negion admitted that he was killed because of ill-treatment of his wife while she was an expectant mother. The organisation apparently follows the principles of the Ku Klux Klan in attempting to enforce morality througn vigilante tactics. Police investigation of “The Black < Legion” revealed to-day almost incredible details of its methods of opera- 1 tion and the extent of its activities. 1 Prosecution officials announced that at least J 6 members of the hooded organisation will be indicted for the murder of Poole who, it now appears, was 1 assassinated because he was a Catholic and because he had learned the organisation’s ritual. The widow denied that he mistreated her and an examination proved this was true. Since the publicity connected with the Poole case, scores of persons have reported to the police that they have been threatened with death or otherwise intimidated. It is now believed that any number • of murders may have been committed by the legion. Furthermore, the police believe that the legion is a direct offshot of the Klu Klux Klan which ter- ■ rorised parts of the nation a decade I ago. The regalia and ritual closely resembles that of the Klansmen. The < police believe that there are at least i 10,000 legion members in Detriot and perhaps thousands more in other parts of the State and nation. Like the Klu Klux Klan, the programme of the organisation is directed against the 1 Catholics, Jews and negroes and appears to pursue this policy even more vigorously than did the Klu Klux Klan.