Ex-Klansman found guilty of manslaughter in ’64 slayings
Verdict delivered 41 years after three civil rights workers disappeared
The Associated Press
Updated: 1:38 p.m. ET June 21, 2005
PHILADELPHIA, Miss. - An 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman was convicted of manslaughter Tuesday in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers — exactly 41 years after they disappeared.
The jury of nine whites and three blacks reached the verdict in the case that was dramatized in the movie "Mississippi Burning" on their second day of deliberations, rejecting murder charges against Edgar Ray Killen but also turning aside defense claims that he wasn’t involved at all.
Prosecutors had sought murder charges, but included the manslaughter charges just before the trial began.
Killen could get up to 20 years on each of the three counts of manslaughter.
Killen showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He was comforted by his wife as he sat in his wheelchair. He was breathing through an oxygen tube. Heavily armed police guarded a barrier outside a side door to the courthouse and jurors were loaded into two waiting vans and driven away.
Edward Killen found Guilty
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Woodduckdawg
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scales of justice
Not really sure how I feel about this guy. Sure if he did it, then I want justice, BUT how come they couldn't do all this back when it happened. I kinda feel sorry for that old man.
I guess all I see is the old man and not mastermind klansman he is.
I guess I feel more like lets just move on and not dig up the past even more. I mean it was a long time ago and I feel Mississippi gets a black eye whenever something similar to this gets brought up again.
I guess all I see is the old man and not mastermind klansman he is.
I guess I feel more like lets just move on and not dig up the past even more. I mean it was a long time ago and I feel Mississippi gets a black eye whenever something similar to this gets brought up again.
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Bustin' Ducks
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Re: scales of justice
Woodduckdawg wrote:Not really sure how I feel about this guy. Sure if he did it, then I want justice, BUT how come they couldn't do all this back when it happened. I kinda feel sorry for that old man.
I guess all I see is the old man and not mastermind klansman he is.
I guess I feel more like lets just move on and not dig up the past even more. I mean it was a long time ago and I feel Mississippi gets a black eye whenever something similar to this gets brought up again.
Think about it....1960's in Mississippi..Nobody got convicted then.
I may go to Heaven, or I may go to hell....But one thing is for certain..It'll be after Duck season!!
Victims' relatives react
The verdict was delivered 41 years to the date after James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner disappeared. Their bodies were found 44 days later buried in an earthen dam. They had been beaten and shot.
IMAGE: THREE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS KILLED IN 1964
FBI via AP file
The three civil rights workers killed in 1964 were: Michael Schwerner, 24, of New York; James Chaney, 21, from Mississippi; and Andrew Goodman, 20, of New York.
Cheers could be heard outside the two-story, red brick courthouse after the verdict was announced. Passers-by patted Chaney’s brother, Ben, on the back and one woman slowed her vehicle and yelled, “Hey, Mr. Chaney, all right!â€
Later, Ben Chaney thanked the prosecutors but said that for the community, “I really feel that there is more to be done,†noting, for example, that there were still no black businesses downtown.
Schwerner’s widow, Rita Schwerner Bender, praised the verdict, calling it “a day of great importance to all of us.†But she said others also should be held responsible for the slayings.
“Preacher Killen didn’t act in a vacuum,†Bender said. “The state of Mississippi was complicit in these crimes and all the crimes that occurred, and that has to be opened up.â€
Prosecutors had asked the jury to send a message to the rest of the world that Mississippi has changed and is committed to bringing to justice those who killed to preserve segregation in the 1960s.
They said the evidence was clear that Killen organized the attack on the three victims.
"Because the guilt of Edgar Ray Killen is so clear, there is only one question left," prosecutor Mark Duncan said in closing arguments. "Is a Neshoba County jury going to tell the rest of the world that we are not going to let Edgar Ray Killen get away with murder any more? Not one day more."
The 12 jurors deliberated Killen's fate for about two and a half hours Monday before going home without a verdict. At the end of the day, the judge polled jurors to determine how they were progressing, and the panel reported being deadlocked 6-6.
McIntyre acknowledged that Killen was once a Klan member, but added: "He's not charged with being a member of the Klan, he's charged with murder." He then pointed out that no witnesses could put Killen at the scene of the crime. Killen did not take the stand.
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"If you vote your conscience you are voting not guilty," he said. "There is a reasonable doubt."
The prosecutor said that while there was no testimony putting the murder weapon in Killen's hands, the evidence showed he was a Klan organizer and had played a personal role in preparations the day of the murders.
"He was in the Klan and he was a leader," Attorney General Jim Hood said.
The trial has reopened one of the most notorious chapters of the civil rights era.
The victims were helping register black voters when they were ambushed by a gang of Klansmen. They were beaten and shot, and their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam.
Killen is only person ever brought up on murder charges in the case by the state of Mississippi.
Killen was tried in 1967 along with several others on federal charges of violating the victims' civil rights. The all-white jury deadlocked in Killen's case, but seven others were convicted. None served more than six years.
Records indicate Killen was organizer
FBI records and witnesses indicated Killen organized carloads of men who followed Chaney, a black man from Mississippi, and Schwerner and Goodman, white men from New York.
Their disappearance focused the nation's attention on the Jim Crow code of segregation in the South and helped spur passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Hood noted that the men disappeared on June 21, 1964. He said families of the three men "have waited 41 years — tomorrow it'll be 41 years — to see this case put before a jury on murder charges."
"Those three boys and their families were robbed of all the things that Edgar Ray Killen has been able to enjoy for these last 40 years," Duncan said.
Perspectives on KKK
The defense rested earlier Monday after a former mayor testified that the Klan was a "peaceful organization."
Harlan Majure, who was mayor of this rural Mississippi town in the 1990s, said Killen was a good man and that the part-time preacher's Klan membership would not change his opinion.
Majure said the Klan "did a lot of good up here" and said he was not personally aware of the organization's bloody past.
"As far as I know it's a peaceful organization," Majure said. His comment was met with murmurs in the packed courtroom.
The verdict was delivered 41 years to the date after James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner disappeared. Their bodies were found 44 days later buried in an earthen dam. They had been beaten and shot.
IMAGE: THREE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS KILLED IN 1964
FBI via AP file
The three civil rights workers killed in 1964 were: Michael Schwerner, 24, of New York; James Chaney, 21, from Mississippi; and Andrew Goodman, 20, of New York.
Cheers could be heard outside the two-story, red brick courthouse after the verdict was announced. Passers-by patted Chaney’s brother, Ben, on the back and one woman slowed her vehicle and yelled, “Hey, Mr. Chaney, all right!â€
Later, Ben Chaney thanked the prosecutors but said that for the community, “I really feel that there is more to be done,†noting, for example, that there were still no black businesses downtown.
Schwerner’s widow, Rita Schwerner Bender, praised the verdict, calling it “a day of great importance to all of us.†But she said others also should be held responsible for the slayings.
“Preacher Killen didn’t act in a vacuum,†Bender said. “The state of Mississippi was complicit in these crimes and all the crimes that occurred, and that has to be opened up.â€
Prosecutors had asked the jury to send a message to the rest of the world that Mississippi has changed and is committed to bringing to justice those who killed to preserve segregation in the 1960s.
They said the evidence was clear that Killen organized the attack on the three victims.
"Because the guilt of Edgar Ray Killen is so clear, there is only one question left," prosecutor Mark Duncan said in closing arguments. "Is a Neshoba County jury going to tell the rest of the world that we are not going to let Edgar Ray Killen get away with murder any more? Not one day more."
The 12 jurors deliberated Killen's fate for about two and a half hours Monday before going home without a verdict. At the end of the day, the judge polled jurors to determine how they were progressing, and the panel reported being deadlocked 6-6.
McIntyre acknowledged that Killen was once a Klan member, but added: "He's not charged with being a member of the Klan, he's charged with murder." He then pointed out that no witnesses could put Killen at the scene of the crime. Killen did not take the stand.
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"If you vote your conscience you are voting not guilty," he said. "There is a reasonable doubt."
The prosecutor said that while there was no testimony putting the murder weapon in Killen's hands, the evidence showed he was a Klan organizer and had played a personal role in preparations the day of the murders.
"He was in the Klan and he was a leader," Attorney General Jim Hood said.
The trial has reopened one of the most notorious chapters of the civil rights era.
The victims were helping register black voters when they were ambushed by a gang of Klansmen. They were beaten and shot, and their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam.
Killen is only person ever brought up on murder charges in the case by the state of Mississippi.
Killen was tried in 1967 along with several others on federal charges of violating the victims' civil rights. The all-white jury deadlocked in Killen's case, but seven others were convicted. None served more than six years.
Records indicate Killen was organizer
FBI records and witnesses indicated Killen organized carloads of men who followed Chaney, a black man from Mississippi, and Schwerner and Goodman, white men from New York.
Their disappearance focused the nation's attention on the Jim Crow code of segregation in the South and helped spur passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Hood noted that the men disappeared on June 21, 1964. He said families of the three men "have waited 41 years — tomorrow it'll be 41 years — to see this case put before a jury on murder charges."
"Those three boys and their families were robbed of all the things that Edgar Ray Killen has been able to enjoy for these last 40 years," Duncan said.
Perspectives on KKK
The defense rested earlier Monday after a former mayor testified that the Klan was a "peaceful organization."
Harlan Majure, who was mayor of this rural Mississippi town in the 1990s, said Killen was a good man and that the part-time preacher's Klan membership would not change his opinion.
Majure said the Klan "did a lot of good up here" and said he was not personally aware of the organization's bloody past.
"As far as I know it's a peaceful organization," Majure said. His comment was met with murmurs in the packed courtroom.
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Bustin' Ducks
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Later, Ben Chaney thanked the prosecutors but said that for the community, “I really feel that there is more to be done,†noting, for example, that there were still no black businesses downtown.
More to be done??? Are there blacks today who are afraid to vote? What prevents a black from starting a business? Blacks have more opportunities for small business loans that anyone.
IRONICALLY, this morning when the verdict was being read, there were three people shot over on Ellis Ave. Go figure....
Jackson has a mostly black population, voted in black mayors, black police chiefs, black fire chiefs, mostly black city council, black JPS superintendent, black community leaders........etc., etc.
When will the black race realize that THEY are thier own worst enemy.
Gottahunt wrote:Later, Ben Chaney thanked the prosecutors but said that for the community, “I really feel that there is more to be done,†noting, for example, that there were still no black businesses downtown.
More to be done??? Blacks have more opportunities for small business loans than anyone.
Couldn't have said it any better myself. I deal with this on a very regular basis. All that a minority business owner (black or other) need do is register their company with the state (in GA) and watch the jobs/money roll in. It really is an amazing process...
In my opinion, the charges fit. Just being part of the KKK should carry manslaughter charges.
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lilwhitelie
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HA
Gottahunt wrote:Later, Ben Chaney thanked the prosecutors but said that for the community, “I really feel that there is more to be done,” noting, for example, that there were still no black businesses downtown.
More to be done??? Are there blacks today who are afraid to vote? What prevents a black from starting a business? Blacks have more opportunities for small business loans that anyone.IRONICALLY, this morning when the verdict was being read, there were three people shot over on Ellis Ave. Go figure....
Jackson has a mostly black population, voted in black mayors, black police chiefs, black fire chiefs, mostly black city council, black JPS
superintendent, black community leaders........etc., etc.
When will the black race realize that THEY are thier own worst enemy.
THEY WILL NEVER REALIZE THAT BECAUSE WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG IT SOMEHOW TURNS INTO THE "MAN" IS HOLDING US DOWN ETC AND WE OWE THEM SOMETHING!! THE CITY OF JACKSON IS THE BEST EX. OF ALL OF THIS!! GOTTAHUNT IS RIGHT.... MOSTLY ALL BLACK LEADERS AND MAJORITY BLACK CITIZENS IN THE CITY OF JACKSON!! SO WHY ISN'T THE CITY OF JACKSON FLOURISHING AND WHY ARE ALL THE UPPER AND MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE WHITE OR BLACK LEAVING THEIR BEAUTIFUL CITY?? GIVE AN INCH AND WANT A MILE!!!!! SEEMS TO ME THERE IS A TREND!! CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG!! IT STARTED WITH THE JACKSON MALL, THEN METROCENTER, NOW NORTHPARK, ETC ETC!! IF IT HAPPENS TO FLOWOOD WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!! JUST LIKE WHEN HARVEY JOHNSON WAS BIATHCHING ABOUT ALL THE MONEY LEAVING THE CITY OF JACKSON GOING TO PLACES LIKE FLOWOOD ETC AND THE CITY OF JACKSON SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO SOME SINCE IT WAS THERE RESIDENTS THAT WERE DOING SOME OF THE SHOPPING!!! I HOPE THERE COMES A DAY WHEN THERE IS A BYPASS BUILT AROUND THE CITY OF JACKSON SO I DON'T HAVE ANY REASON WHATSOERVER TO PASS THROUGH!!!! WELL EXCEPT TO MAYBE VISIT ONE OF THE "BREAST BAR" ESTABLISHMENTS!!
HRCH JB'S LIL WHITE LIE
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http://www.wftv.com/news/4634972/detail.html
PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- Vandals damaged the city's monument to Confederate soldiers by spraying black paint over the faces of statues representing four white rebel fighters.
The damage was discovered during the weekend at the memorial, which consists of a 56-foot-tall granite pillar surrounded by four metal figures representing the navy, cavalry, infantry and artillery branches of the Confederate military.
All are white.
"I think the Civil War is still sensitive to a segment of the South," Nancy Perry, the city's museum director, said Tuesday.
Police had made no arrests. A metal conservator could begin work to clean up the statues this weekend.
The monument, dedicated in 1893 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was scheduled for an $80,000 restoration this year.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- Vandals damaged the city's monument to Confederate soldiers by spraying black paint over the faces of statues representing four white rebel fighters.
The damage was discovered during the weekend at the memorial, which consists of a 56-foot-tall granite pillar surrounded by four metal figures representing the navy, cavalry, infantry and artillery branches of the Confederate military.
All are white.
"I think the Civil War is still sensitive to a segment of the South," Nancy Perry, the city's museum director, said Tuesday.
Police had made no arrests. A metal conservator could begin work to clean up the statues this weekend.
The monument, dedicated in 1893 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was scheduled for an $80,000 restoration this year.
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Spoonallard
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Apparently a jury of his "peers" thought there was enough evidence to convict so he is guilty. Good is all I can say, the system works (albeit slow) . He had a hand in murdering another human and he deserves to be convicted regardless how old and pitiful he looks. I am just thankful it is over with. I lived in Philadelphia growing up and that community as well as Mississippi in general deserves better than to be painted with this type of broad brush. I do think the trial was politically motivated (AG Hood) but hopefully this is over with and we can move on. I am sick and tired of people outside of our state assuming we are all racist hillbilly's because of what happened in the early 60's. People like Mr Killen are the reason we have to fight this sterotype everyday. IMO he got of light
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. -Ernest Hemingway
All this talk about when will "they" realize that they are "their" own worst enemy....come on. I seem to recall the new mayor of Jackson ranting about that very same issue at one point...black on black crime. It's a problem and it's been acknowledged by the city's leadership. Hopefully he can do something positive but if not...it will be a fun circus to watch I am sure.
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