FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1995                          (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
 TWO ST. LOUIS MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO SPRAYING BLACKS WITH KOOL-AID

     WASHINGTON, D.C. --  Two Missouri men who were caught on
videotape driving around St. Louis spraying more than fifty
African-Americans with a high-pressure fire extinguisher pleaded
guilty today to federal criminal civil rights violations, the
Justice Department announced.
     David Walden of Ellisville and Shawn Daniels of Fenton
admitted to driving into predominantly African-American areas of
St. Louis to attack black victims in September 1991.  The two,
who were videotaped by Walden's now ex-wife, sprayed black
residents with water and Kool-aid from a modified fire
extinguisher.  The spray was so strong it knocked some of the
victims to the ground.        
     After the incidents became known to the U.S. Attorney's
Office in August 1993, Walden's family provided the media with
the videotape, which captures the two referring to their victims
as "niggers."  As a result, Walden's ex-wife, Deanna Powers, who
was in the car during the spree, resigned from her job as a
physical education teacher in the Lindburgh School District.  No
charges were brought against Powers.    
     "Incidents like these remind us all that intolerance is
still alive in our great nation," said Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.  "We must never let acts of
bigotry go unchallenged."
     Walden, a sales manager, and Daniels, a self-employed small
business owner, each face a maximum sentence of one year in
prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
     Walden and Daniels engaged in similar activities in October
1991, and on January 20, 1992, the holiday celebrating Martin
Luther King's birthday.
     Federal criminal civil rights law makes it a crime to use
force or threats to injure or intimidate an individual because of
their race or color and their participation in a federally
protected activity.  Use of transportation facilities is
considered such protected activity; several victims were sitting
at bus stops when they were attacked.
     "We will never look the other way when people's civil rights
have been so flagrantly violated," said U.S. Attorney in St.
Louis, Edward L. Dowd, Jr.    The case was investigated by
Special Agent Warren Wyman, of the St. Louis Field Office of the
FBI.
     "Some may say discrimination is behind us, but the number of
hate crime complaints we receive tell us it isn't," added
Patrick.
     
     Sentencing is set for May 5.

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