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This story was originally published in the News & Record on July 17, 2005.

GREENSBORO — He criticized anyone studying the events. He stood firm in his claims of self-defense. He placed blame for the fatal shootings 25 years ago at the feet of those killed.

And Ku Klux Klan leader Virgil Griffin's answer to how his men survived a deadly encounter with communist demonstrators in 1979 was short: "Maybe God guided the bullets. I don't know."

Griffin, the imperial wizard of the Cleveland Knights of the KKK, was one of seven people who spoke on the second day of hearings by the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The independent panel is investigating the Nov. 3, 1979, Klan-Nazi shootings at a rally in the city's Morningside Homes community.

It was Griffin who led a caravan of Klansmen and Nazis to a "Death to the Klan" march that morning, organized by the Communists Workers Party and promoted by fliers that challenged the Klan to a showdown.

Five people were killed and 10 injured when gunfire interrupted the march. Several Klansmen were acquitted of murder charges in a subsequent trial.

"I don't hide under a rock for nobody," Griffin said of his decision to attend the rally that day. "If I had known there was going to be violence, I wouldn't have been there."

An audience of nearly 200 maintained its decorum during his statements at the hearing, held at the Weaver Education Center downtown.

While an occasional chuckle could be heard in the otherwise silent seats, Griffin was applauded for his participation as he walked off the stage, as were the other speakers.

Griffin never stood trial for murder. A federal jury acquitted him of interfering with a federal investigation.

A civil trial later found some of the Klan members and their counterparts in the American Nazi Party partially liable for injuries to three people and for the death of one person.

The city also was held jointly liable for the actions of two police officers and an informant. Greensboro eventually would pay about $350,000 to the estate of Michael Nathan, killed in the shootings.

Other speakers on Saturday included an anti-Klan demonstrator who was at the shootings, an author whose book details circumstances around the event, and a representative from the Southern Poverty Law Center with an extensive knowledge of hate groups.

Griffin, of Mount Holly, west of Charlotte, criticized the panel for what he said was the "total waste of time" of studying the day's events. The only reason he came, he said, was to tell his side of the story, since he figured the communist organizers would have their say.

"It's in the paper all over the United States every week, and who do you think would want to come here and open a business in Greensboro?" Griffin said in a phone interview after his appearance. "Do something positive for Greensboro. Bring jobs in for people who lost jobs."

The commission, a seven-member panel independent of the government, evolved from a movement to examine the events surrounding the shootings. It is set to release a report of its findings in the spring, which will include suggestions on how the community can foster greater unity and healing in the wake of that event.

No one representing the city of Greensboro or the police department addressed the commission Friday or is scheduled to during the two days of hearings.

In April, the City Council voted 6-3 in favor of a resolution opposing the Truth and Community Reconciliation Project.

But one member of the commission said after Saturday's hearing that the city's rebuke may have helped the panel gain credibility among people distrustful of authority.

The same commissioner also noted how he did not see any city leaders attend the two-day hearing.

"It's a shame they missed a great opportunity to learn more about their own city," said the Rev. Mark Sills, who is also executive director of FaithAction. "At some point, I hope they get on board."

Griffin wasn't the only speaker with ties to the Klan to speak Saturday. Gorrell Pierce, a Forsyth County resident who said he left the Klan more than two decades ago, expressed regret over the shootings.

Pierce wasn't at the rally that day and said he believes no one group is responsible for the shootings — not the Klan, not the communists and not the Greensboro police. He said authorities did not consider the potential for violence because a similar encounter four months before Nov. 3 dissipated without violence.

The Communists Workers Party and the KKK clashed in China Grove when the Klan went on a recruiting trip where they showed the film "Birth of a Nation." Pierce took credit for defusing the situation there.

Because that incident ended without violence, he said, authorities were not ready later.

"They did not anticipate what happened," he said. "There is nobody I can point the finger at and say, 'You started it.'"

Security was tight during the two days of hearings. Private guards searched attendees for weapons, while plainclothes and uniformed Greensboro police officers stood guard around the auditorium.

The only disturbance was a minor confrontation between a man in his early 20s and a Greensboro police detective who took the man's picture using a camera phone. The argument occurred outside the building after Griffin's appearance. No charges were filed.