GREENSBORO - The NAACP is requesting the federal government launch an investigation into allegations that records of the 1979 Klan Nazi shootings were thrown out.

The organization sent out two two-page letters on Thursday and Friday requesting a federal investigation of the Greensboro Police Department with full witness protection for officers that have and will come forward with information pertaining to the destruction of the files.

The letters were sent to the offices of: Sens. Richard Burr, Elizabeth Dole, State Reps. Howard Coble and Mel Watt. A similar but separate letter was sent to Gov. Mike Easley and State Attorney General Roy Cooper.

"This request is urgent because we understand the Greensboro government says it cannot investigate this allegation without the identity of the whistle-blower," the letter states.

"We believe an outside FBI investigation can find other avenues for learning the truth. The officer who broke the "Blue No Snitch Rule" is in obvious danger."...

The Klan-Nazi shootings happened the morning of Nov. 3, 1979, just as the march was forming in the Morningside Homes community. A heavily armed caravan of Klansmen and Nazis drove into the area and confronted anti-Klan marchers, many of whom were members of what became the CWP. During the ensuing gunfire, five anti-Klan marchers were killed and 10 others wounded. All criminal defendants later were acquitted in state and federal criminal trials. A civil jury found the city and some Klansmen liable for one of the deaths. Officials still haven't verified whether such files exist. A city spokeswoman said last week that there is nothing to indicate that files were missing.