Civil trial against Klan group opens today [View All]

Case involves beating of Latino at Meade County fair

The Southern Poverty Law Center is hoping to cripple one of the nation's largest Ku Klux Klan groups in a civil trial that begins today in Brandenburg, Ky.

The suit targets the Kentucky-based Imperial Klans of America in the 2006 beating of Jordan Gruver, a Latino teenager, at the Meade County, Ky., fair.

Gruver, who suffered a broken jaw and ribs, is seeking damages against then-Klan member Jarred Hensley, of Cincinnati, who served two years in prison for the attack, and IKA "Imperial Wizard" Ron Edwards, who heads the hate group.

Two others formerly named in the suit -- Andrew Watkins, who was sentenced to three years in prison for the attack, and Joshua Cowles, who was present at the assault -- both agreed to confidential settlements and will be dropped from the civil suit, according to the law center.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081112/NEWS01/811120665