![]() “Fact of the matter is, he bombed a house of God on Sunday morning and killed four children and needs to do the time for his crimes,” he said.įamily of the four girls also attended the hearing, disgusted that Blanton was allowed even the thought of freedom.ĭianne Robertson Braddock, Carole Robertson’s sister, said she understood state laws allowed Branton’s entitlement to parole, but still felt the hearing lacked consideration for the victims’ families. Alabama state law allows a parole review every 15 years.ĭoug Jones, the lead prosecutor who convicted Blanton, offered fierce opposition to his release. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.This was an act of terrorism that jolted the nation at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, when Blacks fought for equality across the nation, but even more fiercely in the entanglement of the Jim Crow South.īlanton, who was convicted and jailed in 2001, 38 years after he committed the heinous crime, will not be eligible again for parole until 2021. ![]() Edgar Hoover had blocked prosecution of Klansmen in the bombing.Ĭopyright 2023 The Associated Press. Justice Department concluded that former FBI Director J. The investigation remained quiet until 1997 when agents went to Texas to talk to Cherry.Ī decade earlier, the U.S. But I’m not responsible for it.”Ī 1993 meeting in Birmingham between FBI officials and black ministers led to the re-opening of the bombing case against Blanton and Cherry. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. “I think I was cleverly set up by the government … and that’s why I’m here,” Blanton told the television station from St. In a 2006 interview with Birmingham station WBRC-TV, he claimed the government used trumped-up evidence and lies to gain his conviction. senator, said in the trial.īlanton proclaimed his innocence years after being sent to prison. “Tom Blanton saw change and didn’t like it,” Jones, now a Democratic U.S. The targeted church was a rallying point for protesters. Attorney Doug Jones, appointed as a special state prosecutor, said Blanton acted in response to months of civil rights demonstrations. “We were getting ready to be there to oppose it,” said Rudolph’s husband, George Rudolph.ĭuring the trial, then-U.S. Glass fragments remained in her chest, left eye and abdomen for decades after the explosion.Ī parole hearing was scheduled next year for Blanton. The bodies of Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14, were found in the downstairs lounge.Ĭollins’ sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph, survived the blast but lost her right eye. ![]() 15, 1963, a bomb ripped through an exterior wall of the brick church, killing four girls who were inside preparing for a youth program. Cherry was convicted in 2002 and died in prison in 2004. Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and died in prison in 1985. The investigation into the bombing was stalled early and left dormant for long stretches, but two other ex-Klansmen, Robert Chambliss and Bobby Frank Cherry, also were convicted in the bombing in separate trials. Moderates could no longer remain silent and the fight to topple segregation laws gained new momentum. The church bombing, exposing the depths of hatred by white supremacists as Birmingham integrated its public schools, was a tipping point of the civil rights movement.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |