Some SCLC board members may seek criminal charges for alleged break-in

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By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Rev. Markel Hutchins said Wednesday he will not seek criminal charges against those who removed padlocks from gates at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference headquarters.

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File The Rev. Markel Hutchins, December 7, 2006.

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But those on the other side of the fight for control of the SCLC said Wednesday they are still considering bringing criminal trespass charges against Hutchins for welding shut the headquarter’s back door and for chaining and padlocking three gates to a rear parking lot.

Hutchins – an ally of ousted SCLC chairman Raleigh Trammell and former treasurer Spiver Gordon – said a faction of the organization’s board named him interim president, chief executive officer and chief financial officer, and he was authorized to be in the building and was responsible for its security.

The other side – which is backing president-elect the Rev. Bernice King – says he is not the president. He is not on the SCLC board either, the Rev. Bernard LaFayette said.

Hutchins said he went into the SCLC offices shortly after 9 p.m. Monday. He had a welder attach bolts to the back door so it could not be opened and locked up the parking lot. The police were called, but the officer declined to do anything, saying the dispute seemed to be a civil matter and not criminal.

This incident was just the latest in a many-months-long fight over who is on the SCLC Board of Directors and who is not. It began when some board members first tried to remove then-chairman Raleigh Trammell of Dayton, Ohio, and then-treasurer Spiver Gordon of Eutaw, Ala., because of suspicions the two men had mismanaged SCLC funds. The FBI, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and the Fulton District Attorney’s Office are conducting criminal investigation into the allegations.

At the same time, Fulton Superior Court Judge Alford Dempsey has scheduled a hearing on a civil case that concerns who is in charge.

Hutchins told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that his decision to go to the headquarters Monday night was part of a plan to force the other side of the pending lawsuit and the judge to call a hearing.

“That hearing on the second [of June] will put an end to this mess,” Hutchins said.

Hutchins said he used a key to get inside the building Monday night and that he did not break in.

“There was no burglary. I took a key and went in the door,” Hutchins said.

LaFayette and other board members say Hutchins doesn’t have a key.

“He admitted that he went into the office and he was unauthorized,” LaFayette said. “He disabled the fire alarm, the water and the electricity. He got a welder to weld up the back door. He took files from the office. I understand now he took one of those [computer] monitors. His behavior is described as breaking and entering.

“He went in the back door,” LaFayette continued. “He didn’t go through the front door. He does not have a key because he’s not authorized. He had the back door welded [closed], so, apparently, [he] didn’t plan on coming back.”

Hutchins said LaFayette’s allegations that he took things are “preposterous and an outright lie. … I’ve never taken a thing from the SCLC. I’ve only give to the organization.”

Despite the continued allegations that he broke in and that he is not president, Hutchins said he is not going to seek criminal charges; on Tuesday he said he was considering seeking a warrant against the staff person who cut off the locks and chains.

“Though I have the authority to do so, there will be no criminal warrant,” Hutchins said.

“It would be in the worst interest of the group to pursue criminal charges,” he said.

LaFayette said other board members are undecided as to whether they will pursue a warrant against Hutchins.

“That’s certainly one of the things we’re considering,” LaFayette said. “We’re appealing to him -- like we appealed to Trammell and Spiver – to cease and desist, to discontinue this kind of behavior because it’s become an irritant.”