Us Department Of Justice Official Release - 03142-129 Txt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1995

CR (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888

THREE TEXANS INDICTED FOR A RACIALLY-MOTIVATED SHOOTING SPREE WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Three Texans who killed a black man and seriously wounded two others during a racially-motivated shooting spree though Lubbock have been indicted by a federal grand jury, the Justice Department announced today. "Most Americans would like to see the day when racial intolerance and discrimination in our nation no longer exist," said U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. "Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived." The nine count indictment, returned yesterday in Lubbock and unsealed today, charged Roy Ray Martin, Eli Trevino Mungia, and Ricky Rivera Mungia with violating federal criminal civil rights and gun laws. It alleges that the three drove through the streets of Lubbock last October hunting black men, luring them to their car, and shooting them at close range with a short-barreled shotgun. According to the indictment, the defendants expressed a desire to start a race war that would eliminate blacks. "This indictment shows that racially-motivated killings are not a thing of the past," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick. "The Justice Department is committed to the vigorous prosecution of all cases that reflect the discrimination that still exists in society." The Justice Department opens approximately 450 hate-crime investigations each year. Count one of the indictment alleges that the three engaged in a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the victims. Counts two, four, and six allege that the racially motivated shootings interfered with the victims' right to use the public streets and sidewalks of Lubbock. Counts three, five, seven, eight, and nine allege violations of gun laws stemming from the use of the short-barreled shotgun. Under federal law, the defendants, if convicted, could be sentenced to death. No decision has been made on whether the government will seek the death penalty for the three. "Texans judge people by what they do and not by the color of their skin," said Paul E. Coggins, Jr., U.S. Attorney in Dallas. "It is abhorrent to us that these victims were killed and terrorized solely because of the color of their skin." The matter was investigated by the Lubbock Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and will be jointly prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and the Lubbock County District Attorney who will be cross-designated to assist in the prosecution. Last month the Justice Department obtained guilty pleas from two Missouri men who drove around St. Louis spraying more than 50 African Americans with Kool-Aid from a high-pressured fire extinguisher. # # # 95-129