New York Times reporter Shaila Dewan blogged yesterday that the Justice Department has declined to reopen the Malcolm X murder case. “Although the Justice Department recognizes that the murder of Malcolm X was a tragedy, both for his family and for the community he served, we have determined that at this time, the matter does [...]
Tag Archives: fbi
Thomas Moore, phone interview by Ben Greenberg, June 22, 2010 [7:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Possible Apology to Recy Taylor for Obstruction of Justice in Racist Gang Rape
The Update This morning in an op-ed at the Anniston Star, I reported that an apology to Recy Taylor may be forthcoming soon from the city of Abbeville and Henry County, AL. Last Wednesday, I reported for Colorlines.com that state Rep. Dexter Grimsley, D-Newville, wants Alabama to issue a formal state apology to Recy Taylor, [...]
Recy Taylor’s 67 Year Quest for Justice
My latest is out on Colorlines. Here’s an excerpt: At 91, Recy Taylor May Finally See Alabama Acknowledge Her 1944 Rape Recy Taylor was abducted and raped at gunpoint by seven white men in Abbeville, Ala., on Sept. 3, 1944. Her attack, one of uncounted numbers on black women throughout the Jim Crow era in [...]
Living Suspect Identified in 1964 Murder of Frank Morris
Today my colleague Stanley Nelson has published a remarkable article implicating a truck driver living in Rayville, Louisiana in the 1964 arson murder of Frank Morris, a Black shoe shop owner in Ferriday, Louisiana. Two people say a Richland Parish truck driver who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan told them he participated [...]
The FBI’s Slow Race Against Time
As far as I knew, none of the children of Clifton Walker had ever been contacted by FBI agents regarding the February 28, 1964 racial killing of their father, near Woodville, MS. Still, I thought I should confirm this, so a few nights ago I gave a call to Walker’s second daughter Catherine and asked [...]
A Little More Justice in Mississippi
Settlement Reached in Civil Suit Charging Franklin County, MS Role in 1964 KKK Murders On Monday, June 21, Franklin County, Mississippi agreed to a settlement in an historic civil suit with the families of Charles Moore and Henry Dee, two 19-year-old Black men who were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan [...]
Thomas Moore, phone interview by Ben Greenberg, June 22, 2010 [7:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadEdgar Ray Killen Says God Will Get You (If You Helped Put Him Away)
[I'm honored to have collaborated with Jerry Mitchell on this article appearing on page 1 of today's Jackson Clarion-Ledger. —BG] Killen claims God is on his side Lawsuit filed last week alleges civil rights violations Jerry Mitchell and Ben Greenberg The Clarion-Ledger March 1, 2010 Convicted Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen says there wasn’t enough [...]
What the FBI Showed Him
Last weekend, on February 6, Catherine Walker and I were emailing back and forth about our plans to interview people familiar with the unsolved civil rights murder of her father Clifton Walker 46 years ago. Around mid-afternoon we had a breakthrough; Catherine wrote to tell me about her conversation with the son of a possible [...]
John Kerry, MLK and Access to Records
Over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend some attention turned to US Senator John Kerry’s (D-MA) renewed effort to open the FBI records of Dr. King. Civil Rights Cold Case reporter Jerry Mitchell reported: U.S. Sen. John Kerry plans to introduce legislation next week that would pave the way for the release of thousands [...]
Remembering the Names
USA Today reports that the FBI Field Office in Jackson, Mississippi may soon be named after James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman—the three civil rights workers murdered by Klansmen in Neshoba County, MS, June 21, 1964. JACKSON, Miss. — This state, whose civil rights history is marred with negatives, wants to name its new Federal [...]
Picking Up the Trail from a 25-Year-Old Tip
In October, I was in Mississippi again, following leads in my investigation of the 1964 murder of Clifton Walker, a black man from Woodville, MS. Driving home from the swing shift at the International Paper plant in Natchez, MS, Walker was ambushed by Klansmen, who stopped his car on a deserted road and blew his [...]
Lines of Accountability
One of the themes of this blog is the pressing need to look not only at who pulled the trigger in decades old Civil Rights Era murders but also to look more broadly at how institutions, people in positions of power and others in the broader society enabled or encouraged the countless crimes against African [...]
In Death Posey Dodges Murder Charges Once and for All
The Clarion Ledger reports: Billy Wayne Posey, a key suspect in the Ku Klux Klan’s killings of three civil rights workers in 1964 in Mississippi, has died, but Justice Department officials say they’re continuing their investigation of the remaining suspects. The 73-year-old Posey died Thursday of natural causes, according to friends. That leaves four living [...]
July 4, 1964
July 4, 1964 was the last time Julia Dobbins saw her brother, JoEd Edwards. Eight days later, he went missing. Rumors were that the Klan took away the 21-year-old Black man and murdered him. His mother died in 1990 never having learned what truly happened to her son. July 4, 1964 was the thirteenth day [...]
Subscriptions (RSS)
BLOG POSTS
COMMENTS
PODCASTSElsewhere
- St. Petersburg Police Bind Hands And Feet Of 5-Year-Old African-American Girl
- Lynching In Tuskegee —blog this now!!
- More On The Prisoners From Orleans Parish Prison
- Edgar Ray Killen Says God Will Get You (If You Helped Put Him Away)
