BY KAY SEDAM AND ALYSON KENNEDY
ASHLAND, Alabama - Christopher Johnson, a 25-year-old Black worker, was indicted June 1 on a federal charge of arson and possession of "a paper sack containing dirt and match books and saturated with a flammable liquid" in connection with the Aug. 6, 1994, fire that destroyed Randolph County High School in Wedowee, Alabama. FBI agents arrested Johnson at 6:30 a.m. as he arrived for work at the Tyson chicken plant here with his wife, who also works at the factory. The federal charge of arson carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine as high as $250,000.
Johnson is the son of Rev. Emmett Johnson, who helped organize protests in Wedowee last year calling for the removal of Hulond Humphries, the principal of Randolph High School, after he made racist comments.
Charlotte Clark-Frieson, the only Black member of the Randolph County school board and president of the local NAACP chapter, said, "I do not believe he [Johnson] did it. I do not trust the FBI." On June 7, she helped organize a group of 50 Randolph County residents to travel to Montgomery by bus and cars to show support for Johnson at his bond hearing. Supporters said his release was a victory. She stated that "this is no time to abandon Rev. Johnson and his family."
Chris Johnson was released from jail on a $100,000 bond and put under "house arrest." He is forced to wear a monitor on his ankle and can only go to and from work and church. The only witness at the bond hearing, FBI special agent Kelvin King, testified that an investigation of Johnson began last September and the FBI worked with informants who wore wiretaps to meetings with Johnson.
Former Randolph County sheriff Larry Colley said he believes more people will be arrested. "It's going to snowball," he said. An editorial in the Birmingham News June 2 stated, "Young Johnson, like anyone else, is presumed innocent until a court decides his fate. But so, too, should the FBI be presumed as acting only in the best interest of justice, unless someone can prove otherwise."
At the Tyson chicken plant, which is organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, co-workers expressed support for Johnson. One Black woman told the Militant, "He didn't do it, because Black people would not burn down a school. The KKK did it."
Mary Walden, a white co-worker of Johnson's, said she did not agree with the statements made by Humphries. The shop steward of the plant agreed with Walden. They expressed disbelief that Johnson was involved with the fire.
A young Black worker said he knew Johnson and did not think he had anything to do with the burning. He went on to describe a month-long strike at the plant last year that won a pay raise from minimum wage to $6.50 an hour.