15, 1963, a bomb ripped through an exterior wall of the brick church, killing four girls who were inside preparing for a youth program. 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. 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. (center) out of the courtroom in handcuffs after a jury convicted him of murder in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, May 1, 2001. Evidence against Blanton included secret recordings that were made using FBI bugs at his home and in the car of a fellow Klansman turned informant.Source: Photo Caption: Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies lead Thomas Blanton Jr. Robert Chambliss, convicted in 1977, and Bobby Frank Cherry, who was convicted in the bombing in 2002, have both died in prison.īlanton and Cherry were indicted in 2000 after the FBI reopened an investigation of the bombing. Long a suspect in the case, Blanton was the second of three people convicted in the bombing. attorney who prosecuted Blanton on the state charge, had previously said Blanton shouldn’t be released since he has never accepted responsibility for the bombing or expressed any remorse for a crime that was aimed at maintaining racial separation at a time when Birmingham’s public schools were facing a court order to desegregate. The board could have allowed him to return as quickly as one year.ĭoug Jones, a former U.S. Board member Cliff Walker said Blanton can seek another review in five years - the longest possible wait under Alabama law. Only two members heard Blanton’s case, which came up for automatic review. The board ordinarily has three members but there’s a vacancy. Visitors look at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday.
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