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ByEricaWernerandEric Tucker The Associated Press WASHINGTON Confronting skeptical Republicans, at- torney general nominee Lo- retta Lynch pledged a new start with Congress and in- dependence from President Barack Obama Wednesday, even as she defended the president's unilateral pro- tections for millions of im- migrants in the country il- legally. "If confirmed as attorney general, I would be myself. I would be Loretta Lynch," the nominee told her Sen- ate confirmation hearing as Republicans showered crit- icism on the current occu- pant of the job, Eric Holder. They said Holder was con- temptuous of Congress and too politically close to Obama, and repeatedly de- manded assurances that Lynch would do things dif- ferently. "You're not Eric Holder, are you?" Texas Republi- can John Cornyn, one of the current attorney gener- al's most persistent critics, asked at one point. "No, I'm not, Sir," Lynch responded with a smile. It was a moment that summed up a Senate Judi- ciary Committee hearing that was often more about Obama and Holder than about Lynch, who is now the top federal prosecutor for parts of New York City and Long Island. If con- firmed, she would become the nation's first black fe- male attorney general. Holder, Cornyn con- tended, "operated as a pol- itician using the awesome power conferred by our laws on the attorney gen- eral." Lynch asked the sen- ator to take note of "the in- dependence that I've always brought to every particular matter," and she said that when merited she would say no to Obama. On immigration, Lynch faced numerous questions from Republicans critical of the administration's new policy granting work per- mits and temporary depor- tation relief to some 4 mil- lion people who are in the country illegally. The com- mittee chairman, Republi- can Chuck Grassley of Iowa, called the effort "a danger- ous abuse of executive au- thority." Lynch said she had no in- volvement in drafting the measures but called them "a reasonable way to mar- shal limited resources to deal with the problem" of illegal immigration. She said the Homeland Secu- rity Department was fo- cusing on removals of "the most dangerous of the un- documented immigrants among us." Pressed by Sen. Jeff Ses- sions of Alabama, a lead- ing immigration hard- liner, she said that citizen- ship was not a right for people in the country ille- gally but rather a privilege that must be earned. At the same time, when Sessions asked whether individu- als in the country legally or those who are here unlaw- fully have more of a right to a job, Lynch replied, "The right and the obligation to work is one that's shared by everyone in this country re- gardless of how they came here." The hearing was the first such proceeding since Re- publicans retook control of the Senate in January. Lynch is expected to win confirmation without diffi- culty in the end, in part be- cause Republicans are so eager to be rid of Holder. He has been a lightning rod for conservatives over the past six years, clashing continu- ally with lawmakers and be- coming the first sitting at- torney general to be held in contempt of Congress. SKEPTICAL REPUBLICANS Attorneygeneralnomineedefends Obama's immigration changes JACQUELYNMARTIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch returns to Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday a er a short break for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. HERALD — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Elwin Wilson, le , and Friendship 9member Willie McCleod, right, look over pictures from civil rights incidents in Rock Hill, S.C., in the 1960s. By Mitch Weiss The Associated Press ROCK HILL, S.C. For a mo- ment, Clarence Graham's heart raced. Fifty four years after he and eight fellow black men served a month of hard labor for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter, a judge de- clared that they had been wrongly convicted of tres- passing and their records would be tossed. "In my heart, I was leap- ing," Graham said. Family, friends and sup- porters in the packed court- room clapped and cheered Wednesday as Judge John C. Hayes vacated the sen- tences for the men known as the Friendship 9. Seven of them were in court. One had died, and another couldn't make the hearing. The men who were there — some surrounded by their children — smiled as they heard the ruling. They had "never felt guilty of anything," Gra- ham said. Hayes said the men had been prosecuted "solely based on their race." "We cannot rewrite his- tory, but we can right his- tory," he said. The eight college stu- dents and one civil rights organizer were convicted in 1961 of trespassing and breach of peace for pro- testing at McCrory vari- ety store in Rock Hill. They had a choice of 30 days in jail or paying a $100 fine. All opted for jail. The men's refusal to pay into the segregationist town's city coffers served as a catalyst for other civil dis- obedience. Demonstrators across the South adopted their "jail, not bail" tactic. At the time of the Friendship 9's demonstra- tion, in February 1961, about a year had passed since a sit-in at a segre- gated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Caro- lina, helped galvanize the nation's civil rights move- ment. But change was slow to come to Rock Hill. Thomas Gaither came town as an activist with the Congress of Racial Equal- ity. He encouraged Gra- ham and seven other stu- dents at Rock Hill's Friend- ship Junior College — W.T. "Dub" Massey, Willie Mc- Cleod, Robert McCullough, James Wells, David Wil- liamson Jr., John Gaines and Mack Workman — to violate the town's Jim Crow laws by ordering lunch at McCrory's. Last year, author Kim Johnsonpublished"NoFear For Freedom: The Story of the Friendship 9." She is the one who went to Kevin Brackett, the prosecutor for York and Union counties, to see what could be done to clear their records. Brackett agreed the men were wrongly convicted — and pushed for the hear- ing. "There was only one reason these men were arrested. There was only one reason that they were charged and convicted for trespassing, and that is be- cause they were black," he said in court Wednesday. Then he apologized to the men: "Sometimes you just have to say you're sorry," Brackett said. South Carolina has a long history of revisit- ing and trying to right its past during the civil rights movement. In recent years, both a Democrat and Re- publican governor apol- ogized for state troopers opening fire on black pro- testers at South Carolina State University in 1968, killing three. Convictions tossed for Friendship 9 54 YEARS LATER By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press A treasure hunter locked in a legal battle over one of the greatest undersea hauls in American history was ar- rested in Florida after more than two years on the lam, authorities said Wednesday. The U.S. Marshals Ser- vice tracked Tommy Thompson to a Hilton ho- tel in West Boca Raton and arrested him Tuesday, said Brian Babtist, a senior in- spector in the agency's of- fice in Columbus, Ohio, where a federal civil arrest warrant was issued for him in 2012 for failing to show up to a key court hearing. Authorities didn't imme- diately explain how they were finally able to track downThompson,whomthey called "one of the most intel- ligent fugitives ever sought by the U.S. Marshals." Thompson made history in 1988 when he found the sunken S.S. Central Amer- ica, also known as the Ship of Gold. In what was a tech- nological feat at the time, Thompson and his crew brought up thousands of gold bars and coins from the shipwreck. Much of that was later sold to a gold mar- keting group in 2000 for about $50 million. The 161 investors who paid Thompson $12.7 mil- lion to find the ship never saw returns from the sale. Two of them sued — a now-deceased investment firm president and the Dispatch Printing Com- pany, which publishes The Columbus Dispatch news- paper and had invested about $1 million. That legal battle is on- going, and those close to Thompson say it was his undoing. Gil Kirk, who heads a Columbus real estate firm and is a former director of one of Thompson's compa- nies, told The Associated Press last year that Thomp- son never cheated anyone. Kirk said proceeds from the 2000 sale of the gold all went to legal fees and bank loans. "He was a genius, and they've stolen his life," Kirk said of those who sued. Thompson went into seclusion in 2006, mov- ing into a mansion called Gracewood in Vero Beach, Florida. Six years later, af- ter the arrest warrant was issued, Thompson van- ished. When the property's caretakers searched the mansion, they found pre- paid disposable cellphones and bank wraps for $10,000 scattered about, along with a bank statement in the name of Harvey Thomp- son showing a $1 million balance, court records said. Harvey, according to friends, was Thompson's nickname in college. Also found was a book called "How to Live Your Life Invisible." One marked page was titled: "Live your life on a cash-only basis." Columbus attorney Rick Robol, who at one time de- fended Thompson's com- pany, has said there's no proof Thompson stole any- thing. He said he's been concerned about Thomp- son's health, which is why he called the arrest "the best thing that can happen for everybody." Babtist said Thompson was arrested along with his longtime companion, Alison Antekeier, and the couple had been staying in a two-person suite at the Hilton for two years. The hotel is in an upscale suburban area surrounded by golf courses, country clubs and gated communi- ties. It's less than 10 miles from the beach, and it has a pool and a running track. The Marshals Service said Thompson Antekeier had no vehicles registered in their names and that An- tekeier used public buses and taxis to move around Palm Beach County. "The couple offered no resistance at the time of the arrest and readily admitted to being the targets of the extensive investigation," the Marshals Service said in a news release. Thompson was set for an initial appearance in federal court Thursday in West Palm Beach, while Antekeier was scheduled for an extradition hearing Feb. 4. It's unclear whether she was ordered to remain in custody until the hearing. No criminal charges have been filed against Thomp- son, but Babtist said the treasure hunter will likely be ordered held in custody until he appears before an Ohio judge to give an ac- counting for the gold's sale and his actions. "I don't imagine he's go- ing to get any bond because he's already been a fugitive and knowingly evaded law enforcement," Babtist said. "I don't know what kind of means he has as far as money goes, but I'm sure they don't want to take any chances with him leaving the country or absconding again." In one of the worst ship- ping disasters in American history, the S.S. Central America sank in a monster hurricane about 200 miles off the South Carolina coast in September 1857; 425 peo- ple drowned and thousands of pounds of California gold were lost, contributing to an economic panic. S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA Fu gi ti ve t re as ur e hu nt er n ab be d a er 2 -y ea r hu nt THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tommy Thompson holds a $50pioneer gold piece retrieved earlier in 1989 from the wreck of the gold ship Central America. ALSCO, INC. 535 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff Call Russ Harman, Clint Heiber or Mark Owens at (530) 527-4001 SLIDEONIN FOR YOUR ONE-STOP IRRIGATION AND PUMPING NEEDS • Aluminum PVC Pipe, Hunter Toro and Nelson Sprinklers • Big Guns • Center Pivots • Wheellines • Test Pumping • Turbine, Submersible and Centrifugal Pumps • Kifco Arena Rain Gun • Apollo Gate Openers FUNK HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING & SHEET METAL 13111 BAKER ROAD OVER30YEARSEXPERIENCE AirConditioning—Heating—SheetMetal—HeatPumps Cal.Lic. #233456 527-5828 WeDo ALIGNMENTS We Do BRAKES 1375MontgomeryRd. Red Bluff, CA T:530 529-0797 StromerRealty 590 Antelope Blvd RedBluff (530) 527-3100 Specializingin Residential to Ranches | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 6 A