After suspected arson, one Southwestern Virginian activist is dead, another is missing

Giles County, VA -- One Virginian activist, Niklan Jones-Lezama, is believed dead and another, Sue Daniels, is missing.

On Saturday, Niklan's body was found by a search party of friends within a few hundred yards of Sue's cabin outside of Blacksburg. This past Thursday, Sue's cabin had been burned to the ground in an apparent act of arson. Sue and Niklan's two cars were found parked outside the charred remains of the building. The badly burned remains of what is believed to be a dog were found inside.

Both Nik and Sue were active around varous social justice issues, such as opposing war in the Middle East, oppression in Central America, and violent mountaintop removal in Appalachia. The two were in their forties and spent several months in federal prison last year due to their participation in the annual School of the Americas protests in Georgia. These annual SOA protests coincidentally occurred this past weekend. The last time people report seeing Niklan was when he was due to leave to attend the protests 5 a.m. on Thursday.

This photo features both Sue and Nik leading a procession into their 2002 trial for protesting the SOA in 2001.

A recent Richmond Indymedia feature written by Sue Daniels: http://richmond.indymedia.org/feature/display/8431