Weaver to Face Indictment Today

Claude L. Weaver '65, and two fellow SNCC workers go before a grand jury in Jackson, Miss., this morning. According to Weaver they will almost certainly be indicted on charges of armed robbery, stemming from a Dec. 26 dispute over a cab fare.

"The grand juries customarily indict everyone," Weaver said, "and those who get off the hook do so at arraignment." Weaver said that they were hoping to get the arraignment delayed, "so our lawyers can investigate some more--so he can look into things I can't mention over the phone."

Weaver said that the situation is "very vague," but that there are rumors he and his companions "are in considerable danger. Ordinarily armed robbery nets a few years, but there are rumors the State is trying to get the full 15 years."

In nearby Canton, Miss., Weaver said, SNCC and CORE workers are continuing their voter registration drive. On Friday, 300 Negroes stood in line for five hours. Five were allowed to take the literacy test, said, but were not told whether they had passed.

Although the Madison County national guard had been mobilized and had, according to Weaver, been drilling with fixed bayonets, there was no violence, and the whole "freedom day" demonstration was "quiet and orderly." On Saturday a 10 p.m. civil curlow was imposed under a law Weaver said had been "rammed through the Legislature Feb. 28."