birmingham church bombing

terrorist attack, Birmingham, Alabama, United States [1963]. [33] Another sister of Addie Mae Collins, 16-year-old Junie Collins, would later recall that shortly before the explosion, she had been sitting in the basement of the church reading the Bible and had observed Addie Mae Collins tying the dress sash of Carol Denise McNair before she returned upstairs to the ground floor of the church. "[116] Johnson reiterated that there was no hard evidence linking Cherry to the bombing, but only evidence attesting to his racist beliefs dating from that era, adding that the family members who had testified against him were all estranged and therefore should be considered unreliable witnesses. September 15, 1963 - A bomb blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, kills four African-American girls during church services. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, newly-inaugurated President Lyndon Johnson continued to press for passage of the civil rights bill sought by his predecessor. A fifth girl who had been with them, Sarah Collins (the younger sister of Addie Mae Collins), lost her right eye in the explosion, and several other people were injured. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing marked a turning point in the United States during the civil rights movement and contributed to support for passage by Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In his opening statement for the prosecution, Don Cochran presented his case: that the evidence would show that Cherry had participated in a conspiracy to commit the bombing and conceal evidence linking him to the crime and that he had later gloated over the deaths of the victims. At times as hard as crucible steel, but, today, you do not walk alone. In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools, three additional bombs were detonated in Birmingham. The three-story 16th Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963. Resulting in the injury of 14 people and the death of four girls, the attack garnered widespread national outrage. Cobbs also testified that approximately one week after the bombing, she had observed Chambliss watching a news article relating to the four girls killed in the bombing. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. was brought to trial in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett on April 24, 2001. The call was answered by the acting Sunday School secretary: a 14-year-old girl named Carolyn Maull. In attendance were 1,600 people. "[27], The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses to testify in their case against Blanton, including relatives of the victims, John Cross, the former pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church; an FBI agent named William Fleming, and Mitchell Burns, a former Klansman who had become a paid FBI informant. Baxley had been a student at the University of Alabama when he heard about the bombing in 1963, and later recollected: "I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what."[64]. He said that Cherry had signed an affidavit in the presence of the FBI on October 9, 1963, confirming that he, Chambliss, and Blanton were at these premises on this date.[117]. Cherry's defense attorney, Mickey Johnson, protested his client's innocence, citing that much of the evidence presented was circumstantial. Corrections? Although Cash is known to have passed a polygraph test in which he was questioned as to his potential involvement in the bombing, The Reverend John Cross, who had been the pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church at the time of the 1963 bombing, died of natural causes on November 15, 2007. We all did it! [55][56] At the time, no federal charges were filed against Chambliss or any of his fellow conspirators in relation to the bombing. Don Cochran disputed this position, arguing that Alabama law provides for "conspiracies to conceal evidence" to be proven by both inference and circumstantial evidence. Also present was Martin Luther King Jr. May 22, 2002 - Cherry is found guilty and given a sentence of four life terms. In the closing argument for the defense, attorney Mickey Johnson argued that Cherry had nothing to do with the bombing, and reminded the jurors that his client was not on trial for his beliefs, stating: "It seems like more time has been spent here throwing around the n-word than proving what happened in September 1963. September 15, 1963 - A bomb blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, kills four African-American girls during church services. ", "Beauty from the Ashes of 16th Street Baptist Church", "The Speech That Shocked Birmingham the Day After the Church Bombing", "Ceremony recalls victim of civil rights violence", "First of 4 Birmingham Bomb Victims is Buried", "We Shall Overcome Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement", "Funeral Speakers Say Deaths Of Three Children Not In Vain", "Martin Luther King's 'Eulogy for the Martyred Children, "The ghosts of Alabama: After 37 years, two men are indicted for a bombing that transfigured the civil rights movement", "Birmingham Klansman Guilty in Dynamite Case; Two Other Defendants Face Trial Today--Dr. King Gives City an Ultimatum on Jobs", "FBI: A Byte Out of History: The '63 Baptist Church Bombing", "Murderer Of 4 Birmingham Girls Found Guilty (38 yrs later)", "Former Klansman convicted in deadly 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church", "Cherry convicted: Jury verdict in bombing hailed as 'justice finally, "Birmingham Church Bombing Conviction Ended an Obsession of the Prosecutor", "Bill Baxley Reflects on 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing", "Former Prosecutor Says FBI Delayed Alabama Conviction", "Former Klansman Convicted In Bombing Death", "Another Redemption: Baxley in Birmingham", "Puzzle Pieces Put Together in Bombing Case", "Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing", "Former Klansman convicted of deadly Alabama church bombing 40 years on", "Klansman convicted of killing black girls", "As Church Bombing Trial Begins in Birmingham, the City's Past Is Very Much Present", "Former Klansman who was Key Witness at Bombing Trial Dies", "Church Bombing Verdict Hinges on how Jurors Understand Tapes", "Jury Hears More Old Tapes in Church Bombing Trial", "Birmingham church bomber guilty, gets four life terms", "Testimony Concludes in Trial On Birmingham Church Blast", "Former Klansman Convicted in 1963 Church Bombing", "Former Klansman faces prison in 1963 Killings", "1 Klansman survives Ala church bombing cases", "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bomber up for parole next month", "16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton denied parole", "Thomas Blanton, Who Bombed a Birmingham Church, Dies at 82", "Witnesses Say Ex-Klansman Boasted of Church Bombing", "Design of Bomb Still Uncertain 38 Years Later", "Explosives Expert Testifies In Church Bombing Trial", "Prosecutor says justice 'overdue' in '63 bombing", "More Than Just a Racist? Blanton was convicted in 2001 and Cherry in 2002; both received life sentences (Cherry died in 2004, Blanton in 2020). [124] These polygraph results had convinced some FBI agents of Rowe's culpability in the bombing. "[38], Two more black youths, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, were shot to death in Birmingham within seven hours of the Sunday morning bombing. Although never formally named as one of the conspirators by the FBI, Rowe's record of deception on the polygraph tests leaves open the possibility that Chambliss's claims may have held a degree of truth.

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