Ben GreenbergIn 1965, #police officer Edward Alton Nugent killed #JohnWesleyWilder in #Ruston, #Louisiana. That much is not in dispute. But what happened that night is still an open question. 1/
The #police said Wilder had attacked Nugent and the death was ruled a “#JustifiableHomicide in self-defense." But many in the community, including eyewitnesses at the time, said the killing was unprovoked and #RaciallyMotivated. 2/
In 2008, the #FBI reopened the case and dozens of others under the #EmmettTill Unsolved #CivilRights Crime Act, which directed the #DepartmentOfJustice and the FBI to investigate unpunished racially motivated #homicides from before 1970. (Read the text of the act: https://www.congress.gov/110/plaws/publ344/PLAW-110publ344.pdf) 3/
After three years, the Wilder case was closed again with no further action. The #FBI could have done more. It’s unclear if the bureau spoke to Black community members or read the eyewitness affidavits gathered in 1965 by Wilder’s brother with help from the #NAACP. 4/
I reviewed those accounts and also found Bill Smith, a new witness who, like earlier ones, says Wilder did not attack Nugent. Smith wants #accountability for Wilder’s death. "The system is only as good as we make the system," he said. 5/
#CynthiaDeitle, former chief of the #FBI #CivilRights unit, said the new evidence I found should, in her view, prompt the #JusticeDepartment to reopen the case. 6/
I dig into this civil rights cold case in “A Death Ruled ‘Justifiable’: The Killing of #JohnWesleyWilder,” my contribution to “Still Paying the Price: #Reparations in Real Terms,” a new #podcast series from #LWCStudios. I reported, produced and wrote the episode, which was made in partnership with the nonprofit newsroom #TypeInvestigations and with support from the #FundForInvestigativeJournalism. https://benlog.net/2023/07/24/podcast-a-death-ruled-justifiable-the-killing-of-john-wesley-wilder 7/7
#history #BlackHistory #PoliceBrutality #Ruston #Louisiana #ColdCase
PODCAST: A Death Ruled “Justifiable”: The Killing of John Wesley Wilder - benlog
In July 1965, police officer Edward Alton Nugent shot and killed John Wesley Wilder, a Black man, outside a cafe in Ruston, Louisiana. Local authorities quickly ruled it a justifiable homicide. But in 2008, legislation introduced by Congressman John Lewis, gave hope to families seeking justice for racially motivated homicides prior to 1970. Nugent, the shooter, is still alive, and new evidence has emerged.