Tuesday, June 21, 2005
After four decades: Mississippi ex-Klansman convicted!!!
"A US jury has convicted a former Ku Klux Klan member of manslaughter over the notorious killing of three civil rights workers in 1964.Read the full story in
The jury in Mississippi rejected murder charges against Edgar Ray Killen, now aged 80, but found him guilty of recruiting a mob to kill the three.
Killen now faces up to 20 years in jail for the role he played 41 years ago.
Campaigners hailed the verdict, but said more should be done to deal with Mississippi's racist past.
The defendant had denied taking any part in the killings of Michael Schwerner, 24, Andy Goodman, 20, and James Chaney, 21.
Killen - who is a Baptist preacher - showed no emotion as the verdict was read in the courtroom in the town of Philadelphia.
A frail man, he used a wheelchair in court and was connected to breathing apparatus during the trial.
Both sides expressed some disappointment with the manslaughter verdict: prosecutors said they would appeal because the charges were changed late in the trial while campaigners argued that a manslaughter verdict avoided some awkward questions."
BBC NEWS | Americas | Mississippi ex-Klansman convicted (The link will open in a new window).
Isn't it amazing that justice can be done even after forty years?
