Jackson Free Press

AG Gonzales to Old Klansmen: ‘We Are Still on Your Trail'

The U.S. Department of Justice held a press conference this morning in Washington to announce the formation of a cold-cases division to pursue old civil-rights murders, such as the case …

‘Philadelphia Coalition' Calls for Justice

The Neshoba Democrat is reporting that a multi-racial coalition of leader, business owners, newspaper editors and citizens in Neshoba County today issued a long-overdue statement, calling for justice for the …

Edgar Ray Killen Back In Prison

AP is reporting:

A judge Friday revoked the bond that allowed Edgar Ray Killen to stay out of prison while he appealed his manslaughter conviction for the 1964 slayings of three civil rights …

Archive of the JFP's Coverage of the Dee-Moore Case

Following are links to the Jackson Free Press' full, and ongoing, package of stories about 1960s Klan activity in the Natchez-Meadville-Roxie, Miss., area, starting with the award-winning investigative story by …

Neshoba County Coalition Calls for Justice

The newly formed Philadelphia Coalition of blacks, whites and Choctaws released the following statement calling for justice and issuing a long-overdue apology for the tragic murders that happened there on …

HRC to Use Obadele Incident to Further Understanding

JACKSON – The firestorm that surrounded Richard Barrett's attempt to bring Edgar Ray Killen to the State Fair, and the one that has now swirled around Councilman Kenneth Stokes' Stokes' …

Mississippians Wary of Civil-Rights Trial

A JFP blogger posted this link in our media forum to an AP story about Philadelphia and the people's attitudes toward the trial. I decided to move it to the …

Day 8: Franklin County Editors, Past and Present

This morning, Judge Henry Wingate agreed to allow the government to show the jury a racial epithet-filled letter that James Ford Seale allegedly wrote to the Franklin Advocate on July …

Afterword

On the 41st anniversary of the deaths of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney, one man has been convicted. One thing to think about is the fact that the jury would not …

The Scene of the Crime ... and a Klansman

After leaving Mt. Zion, I took the women reporters to Road 515, also known as Rock Cut Road, to show them where the three men were taken and killed.

[Breaking] Killen Sentenced to 60 Years

Moments ago in Neshoba County, Judge Marcus Gordon has sentenced Edgar Ray Killen, 80, to the full 60 years possible for his guilty verdict for manslaughter in the James Chaney, …

Barnett Confession Alleges Role of Burrage

Horace Doyle Barnett's Nov. 20, 1964, confession to the FBI

I was just provided this confession from 1964 by one of the alleged conspiractors in the murders. I have not verified its authenticity. It is pasted verbatim.

‘A Wider Examination'?

Journalist Oliver Staley is writing good stories in the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, trying to address larger questions along the way. He walked up to me today on the court …

Barbour Supports Civil Rights Museum

[The following letter is verbatim from Gov. Barbour to the Civil Rights Museum Federation Committee at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History]

In Memory: Phillip Gibbs and James Earl Green

Thirty-five years ago today, Jackson police opened fire on a crowd of students at Jackson State University, killing Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, 21, a junior pre-law major and father of an …

Updates - Days 5 and 6

There was much—or little—activity in the courtroom on Friday and Saturday, depending on how you look at it. But we've either been in the courtroom, and thus no connection, or …

Monkey Business

The morning began as Jim Hood stood to address the judge while in the process of putting on his suit coat. He was sternly reprimanded by the judge for his …

Day 5: Of Guns and Freedom

By his own admission in court on Tuesday, it was Charles Marcus Edwards who first fingered Henry Dee. The young man who lived near him had come back to Chicago …

The Trial Begins ... Officially

We left Jackson early (7 a.m.!) to get to Philadelphia for the official opening of the trial — although there is not a lot of activity to cover today. There …

James Ford Seale Trial to Begin Wednesday

The federal kidnapping and conspiracy trial of former Klansman James Ford Seale is now set to begin Wednesday, May 30, with jury selection in a federal courtroom in Jackson. Seale …