Exactly 60 yrs ago, on June 12, 1963, NAACP Mississippi field secretary, Medgar Evers, returned home. Carrying "Jim Crow Must Go" t-shirts, he was shot in the back. His wife found him bleeding at the door. He died later. At his funeral, brutal police tactics failed to suppress anger among 1000s of mourners. Later, Medgar received the 1963 Spingarn medal for his contributions and sacrifice.
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After an investigation, Byron De La Beckwith emerged as the prime suspect in Medgar’s murder. Despite incriminating evidence & eyewitness testimony, Beckwith denied shooting Medgar, claiming his gun was stolen. The trials were heated battles amid segregation tensions. Influential figures, like Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, supported Beckwith, even shaking his hand in front of the jury.
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Beckwith was arrogantly confident throughout the trial—-making no effort to conceal his disdain for Black people. In 1964, he was released when two all-white juries couldn't reach a verdict.
In 1989, the question of Beckwith's guilt resurfaced with the revelation of files from the disbanded Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. This organization operated in the 1950s to bolster support for segregation and white supremacy.
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The published accounts indicated that the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission had aided Beckwith's defense team in vetting potential jurors during the initial trials. While the Hinds County Mississippi District Attorney's office found no evidence of jury tampering, it did uncover additional witnesses. Some of these individuals eventually testified that Beckwith had boasted about the murder to them.
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Beckwith later served a lengthy prison sentence in Louisiana for trying to kill
A.I. Botnick, director of the New Orleans-based B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League. In 1979, while in the prison infirmary, he refused treatment from a Black nurse's aide. Overheard by a guard, Beckwith stated that if he could eliminate an "uppity" Evers, dealing with the "no-account" aide would be no trouble. The guard's testimony in Beckwith's 3rd trial in 1994 was crucial.
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The trial was triggered, in part, by The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson Mississippi publishing accounts of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission's assistance in Beckwith's earlier trials, revealing their role in jury selection. During the 1990s, a fresh wave of investigators and prosecutors meticulously reexamined existing evidence and unearthed new information.
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Consequently, Beckwith faced a 2nd indictment for the murder of Medgar Evers in December 1990. Despite several appeals, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in April 1993 in favor of a 3rd trial.
Beckwith, now older & only slightly less arrogant, defiantly displayed a Confederate flag on his lapel throughout the trial. Testimony began 10 months later with a racially diverse jury consisting of 8 Black & 4 white individuals.
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Finally, in February 1994, 31 years after Medgar Evers' murder, Byron De La Beckwith received a conviction and a life sentence in prison. The New York Times reported that upon hearing the guilty verdict on February 5, 1994, Beckwith appeared bewildered, seemingly unsure of his surroundings.
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In 1996, Rob Reiner released “Ghosts of Mississippi,” which details the murder of Medgar Evers and the long road to justice.
In one iconic scene, Beckwith, on trial, confidently expounds...”Did I kill Medgar Evers? No I did not [chuckles]
But he sure is dead... he ain't never coming back.”
Beckwith tried and tried to get out of jail. He never did. He died there in January 2001 at the age 80.
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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco
Keith Ammann
Jenny Zehringer