![]() 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. “That he died at this moment, when the country is trying to reconcile the multi-generational failure to end systemic racism, seems fitting,” Jones said in a statement. Doug Jones, who prosecuted Blanton, said the fact that Blanton remained free for almost 40 years after the bombing “speaks to a broader systemic failure to hold him and his accomplices accountable.” When asked by the judge during sentencing if he had any comment, Blanton said: “I guess the good Lord will settle it on judgment day.” Ivey, in a statement, called the bombing “a dark day that will never be forgotten in both Alabama’s history and that of our nation.” In May 2001, Blanton was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. He was being held at Donaldson prison near Birmingham, prison officials said. Kay Ivey’s office said Blanton died of natural causes. (AP) - Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., the last of three one-time Ku Klux Klansmen convicted in a 1963 Alabama church bombing that killed four Black girls and was the deadliest single attack of the civil rights movement, died Friday in prison, officials said. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.īIRMINGHAM, Ala. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.'s co-conspirators Robert Chambliss, who was convicted in 1977, and Bobby Frank Cherry, who was convicted in 2002, both died in prison.This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. "I think that mitigates against the fact that he is an elderly man now." "It took (38) years for him to be brought to justice to begin with," Jones said. He plans to attend the parole hearing in opposition to Thomas' early release, and says the board should not consider Blanton's age when deciding whether to grant parole. ![]() "This was, as I said during the trial, an act of terrorism before the word 'terrorism' was part of our everyday lives," Jones said. "It would be a slap in the face to those young ladies and their families to release him," Simelton says NO to parole for Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr-16th St Baptist Church bomber. Hezekiah Jackson, president of the Birmingham chapter of the NAACP, said, "It is our further position that it would be a travesty of justice" to release Thomas early.Ģday we remember Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson & Cynthia Morris Wesley #4LittleGirls #Birmingham /cIWdTUK96X In 1997, Spike Lee released a documentary titled 4 Little Girls, which was nominated for an Academy Award.Īddie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson & Cynthia Morris Wesley! 51 yrs ago they were killed in church! /TsGoaphwEs Watch video from that press conference below.įollowing the bombing, the church was gifted with more than $300,000 by citizens from all over the world to help with repairs. ![]() Alabama's parole board will decide whether 78-year-old Blanton deserves to be free, but members of the Birmingham NAACP and other civil rights leaders held a news conference on Friday across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church to speak out against any early release. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., the lone survivor of a group of Klansmen convicted in an Alabama church bombing that killed four black girls in 1963, is up for parole after spending 15 years in prison for murder.
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