Last Saturday marked 61 years since three Civil Rights activists were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. The ‘Mississippi Burning’ murders caught the attention of the FBI, Hollywood, and ultimately the American people and government.
On June 21st 1964, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were in Mississippi running voter registration campaigns for African American residents. They had spent the morning at nearby town, and by 3pm were driving back to the Congress of Racial Equality’s (CORE) headquarters.
The trio were then pulled over by Neshoba County police officers. Chaney, the driver, was arrested for speeding, but all three were taken to the local jail for holding.
Despite being released late that evening, police and locals continued to pursue the trio. Multiple cars were in pursuit, including the Deputy Sherriff’s patrol vehicle.
Finally forced to stop, the trio were escorted back towards Nashoba County by the Deputy Sherriff. At a secluded intersection, the three men were forced out of their car and shot. Alton W. Roberts, a former marine, pulled the trigger.
The lynch mob then buried the activists at a nearby farm.
The subsequent investigation captivated the nation. The FBI became involved, ultimately uncovering not only the bodies of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, but eight other deceased African Americans.
Of the 21 men charged with involvement in the 1964 murders, only seven were convicted. None served over six years in prison.
The case contributed to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as other state and federal Civil Rights legislation. In 2014, Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner were posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Find out more about this period in US history, including the impact of the Mississippi Burning case, on this episode of American History Tellers.
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