Byron De La Beckwith: Difference between revisions

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'''Byron De La Beckwith, Jr'''. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American white supremacist and Klansman from Greenwood, Mississippi who was convicted in the 1994 state trial of assassinating the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two previous trials in 1964 on this charge had resulted in hung juries.

==Villainy==

The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Citizens%27_Council White Citizens' Council] was founded in 1954 following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court United States Supreme Court]'s ruling in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education Brown v. Board of Education]'' that school segregation was unconstitutional. Begun in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi Mississippi], chapters arose in towns across the South, where sometimes prominent citizens used a variety of economic tactics to suppress black activists and sustain segregation; they applied pressure through boycotts, denial of loans and credit, ending jobs and other means, and in Mississippi prevented school integration until 1964.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-6 [6]]

De La Beckwith became a member; however, he thought more direct action was needed. On June 12, 1963, he assassinated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP NAACP] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights civil rights] leader [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers Medgar Evers] outside Evers' home in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Mississippi Jackson].

The state twice prosecuted De La Beckwith for murder in 1964, but both trials ended with hung juries. The jurors were all male and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-white_jury all white]. Mississippi had effectively [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disfranchisement_after_Reconstruction_era disfranchised] black voters since 1890, and they were thus prevented from serving as jurors, who were limited to voters. During the second trial, the former Governor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Barnett Ross Barnett] interrupted the trial to shake hands with Beckwith while [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrlie_Evers Myrlie Evers], the widow of the activist, was testifying.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 [1]] In the 1980s, the ''Jackson Clarion Ledger'' published reports of its investigation of the trial, which found that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_State_Sovereignty_Commission Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission], supported by residents' taxes, had assisted De La Beckwith's attorneys in his second trial by using state resources to investigate members of the jury pool during ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voir_dire#Use_in_the_United_States voir dire].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 [1]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 [2]]''

In January 1966, De La Beckwith, along with a number of other members of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Knights_of_the_Ku_Klux_Klan White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan], was subpoenaed by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee House Un-American Activities Committee] to testify about Klan activities. Although De La Beckwith gave his name when asked by the committee (unlike other witnesses, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bowers Sam Bowers], who invoked the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution Fifth Amendment] in response to that question), he answered no other substantive questions.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 [2]] In the following years, Beckwith became a leader in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation segregationist] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Priesthood Phineas Priesthood], an offshoot of the white supremacist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Identity_Movement Christian Identity Movement]. The group was known for its hostility towards [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American African Americans], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew Jews], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic Catholics], and foreigners.

According to Delmar Dennis, who acted as a key witness for the prosecution at the 1994 trial, De La Beckwith boasted of his role in the death of Medgar Evers at several KKK rallies and similar gatherings in the years following his mistrials. In 1967, he unsuccessfully sought the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Democratic_Party Democratic Party]'s nomination for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Governor_of_Mississippi Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 [2]]

In 1973, informants alerted the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation] of Beckwith's plans to murder [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A.I._Botnick&action=edit&redlink=1 A.I. Botnick], director of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans New Orleans]-based [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%27nai_B%27rith B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League], for comments Botnick had made about white southerners and race relations. Following several days of surveillance, Beckwith's car was stopped by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Police_Department New Orleans Police Department] officers as he crossed over the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway Lake Pontchartrain Causeway] Bridge. Among the contents of his vehicle were several loaded firearms, a map with directions to Botnick's house highlighted, and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite dynamite] time bomb. On August 1, 1975, Beckwith was convicted of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(crime) conspiracy to commit murder]; he served nearly three years in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary Angola Prison] in Louisiana from May 1977 until his parole in January 1980.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 [2]] Just before entering prison to serve his sentence, Beckwith was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordained ordained] by Rev. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_H_%22Buddy%22_Tucker Dewey "Buddy" Tucker] as a minister of the Temple Memorial Baptist Church; a Christian Identity congregation in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knoxville,_Tennessee Knoxville], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee Tennessee].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-7 [7]]

==1994 trial for Evers murder==

In the 1980s, the reporting of the ''Jackson Clarion Ledger'' of the Beckwith trials stimulated a new investigation by the state and ultimately a third prosecution, based on new evidence.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 [1]] By this point, De La Beckwith was living in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Mountain,_Tennessee Signal Mountain, Tennessee], and was extradited to Mississippi for his trial at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinds_County,_Mississippi Hinds County] Courthouse in Jackson. The 1994 state trial was held before a jury of eight black and four white jurors; it ended with De La Beckwith's conviction of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-degree_murder first-degree murder] for killing Medgar Evers. New evidence included testimony of his having boasted of the murder at a Klan rally and to others over the three decades after the crime. The physical evidence was essentially the same as was used during the first two trials.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 [1]]

He appealed the guilty verdict, but the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Supreme_Court Mississippi Supreme Court] upheld the conviction in 1997. The court said the 31-year lapse between the murder and De La Beckwith's conviction did not deny him a fair trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. Although Mississippi had a death penalty in 1963, it was unavailable because it and other death penalty laws in force at the time had been declared unconstitutional by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court United States Supreme Court] in the case of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia Furman v. Georgia]''. Beckwith sought review in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court United States Supreme Court], but that Court denied [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certiorari certiorari].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-8 [8]]

~~{{stub}}~~

On January 21, 2001, De La Beckwith died at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. He was 80 years old. He had suffered from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_disease heart disease], high [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure blood pressure] and other ailments.

[[Category:Absolute Evil]]

[[Category:Fascists]]

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+[[File:Placeholder|right|300px]]
 '''Byron De La Beckwith, Jr'''. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American white supremacist and Klansman from Greenwood, Mississippi who was convicted in the 1994 state trial of assassinating the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two previous trials in 1964 on this charge had resulted in hung juries.
+==Villainy==
+The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Citizens%27_Council <u>White Citizens' Council</u>] was founded in 1954 following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court <u>United States Supreme Court</u>]'s ruling in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education <u>Brown v. Board of Education</u>]'' that school segregation was unconstitutional. Begun in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi <u>Mississippi</u>], chapters arose in towns across the South, where sometimes prominent citizens used a variety of economic tactics to suppress black activists and sustain segregation; they applied pressure through boycotts, denial of loans and credit, ending jobs and other means, and in Mississippi prevented school integration until 1964.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-6 <u>[6]</u>]</sup>
+De La Beckwith became a member; however, he thought more direct action was needed. On June 12, 1963, he assassinated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP <u>NAACP</u>] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights <u>civil rights</u>] leader [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers <u>Medgar Evers</u>] outside Evers' home in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Mississippi <u>Jackson</u>].
+The state twice prosecuted De La Beckwith for murder in 1964, but both trials ended with hung juries. The jurors were all male and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-white_jury <u>all white</u>]. Mississippi had effectively [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disfranchisement_after_Reconstruction_era <u>disfranchised</u>] black voters since 1890, and they were thus prevented from serving as jurors, who were limited to voters. During the second trial, the former Governor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Barnett <u>Ross Barnett</u>] interrupted the trial to shake hands with Beckwith while [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrlie_Evers <u>Myrlie Evers</u>], the widow of the activist, was testifying.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NYT_1-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 <u>[1]</u>]</sup> In the 1980s, the ''Jackson Clarion Ledger'' published reports of its investigation of the trial, which found that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_State_Sovereignty_Commission <u>Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission</u>], supported by residents' taxes, had assisted De La Beckwith's attorneys in his second trial by using state resources to investigate members of the jury pool during ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voir_dire#Use_in_the_United_States <u>voir dire</u>].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NYT_1-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 <u>[1]</u>]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vollers1995_2-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 <u>[2]</u>]</sup>''
+In January 1966, De La Beckwith, along with a number of other members of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Knights_of_the_Ku_Klux_Klan <u>White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan</u>], was subpoenaed by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee <u>House Un-American Activities Committee</u>] to testify about Klan activities. Although De La Beckwith gave his name when asked by the committee (unlike other witnesses, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bowers <u>Sam Bowers</u>], who invoked the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution <u>Fifth Amendment</u>] in response to that question), he answered no other substantive questions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vollers1995_2-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 <u>[2]</u>]</sup> In the following years, Beckwith became a leader in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation <u>segregationist</u>] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Priesthood <u>Phineas Priesthood</u>], an offshoot of the white supremacist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Identity_Movement <u>Christian Identity Movement</u>]. The group was known for its hostility towards [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American <u>African Americans</u>], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew <u>Jews</u>], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic <u>Catholics</u>], and foreigners.
+According to Delmar Dennis, who acted as a key witness for the prosecution at the 1994 trial, De La Beckwith boasted of his role in the death of Medgar Evers at several KKK rallies and similar gatherings in the years following his mistrials. In 1967, he unsuccessfully sought the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Democratic_Party <u>Democratic Party</u>]'s nomination for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Governor_of_Mississippi <u>Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi</u>].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vollers1995_2-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 <u>[2]</u>]</sup>
+In 1973, informants alerted the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation <u>Federal Bureau of Investigation</u>] of Beckwith's plans to murder [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A.I._Botnick&action=edit&redlink=1 <u>A.I. Botnick</u>], director of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans <u>New Orleans</u>]-based [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%27nai_B%27rith <u>B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League</u>], for comments Botnick had made about white southerners and race relations. Following several days of surveillance, Beckwith's car was stopped by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Police_Department <u>New Orleans Police Department</u>] officers as he crossed over the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway <u>Lake Pontchartrain Causeway</u>] Bridge. Among the contents of his vehicle were several loaded firearms, a map with directions to Botnick's house highlighted, and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite <u>dynamite</u>] time bomb. On August 1, 1975, Beckwith was convicted of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(crime) <u>conspiracy to commit murder</u>]; he served nearly three years in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary <u>Angola Prison</u>] in Louisiana from May 1977 until his parole in January 1980.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vollers1995_2-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-Vollers1995-2 <u>[2]</u>]</sup> Just before entering prison to serve his sentence, Beckwith was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordained <u>ordained</u>] by Rev. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_H_%22Buddy%22_Tucker <u>Dewey "Buddy" Tucker</u>] as a minister of the Temple Memorial Baptist Church; a Christian Identity congregation in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knoxville,_Tennessee <u>Knoxville</u>], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee <u>Tennessee</u>].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-7 <u>[7]</u>]</sup>
+==1994 trial for Evers murder==
+In the 1980s, the reporting of the ''Jackson Clarion Ledger'' of the Beckwith trials stimulated a new investigation by the state and ultimately a third prosecution, based on new evidence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NYT_1-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 <u>[1]</u>]</sup> By this point, De La Beckwith was living in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Mountain,_Tennessee <u>Signal Mountain, Tennessee</u>], and was extradited to Mississippi for his trial at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinds_County,_Mississippi <u>Hinds County</u>] Courthouse in Jackson. The 1994 state trial was held before a jury of eight black and four white jurors; it ended with De La Beckwith's conviction of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-degree_murder <u>first-degree murder</u>] for killing Medgar Evers. New evidence included testimony of his having boasted of the murder at a Klan rally and to others over the three decades after the crime. The physical evidence was essentially the same as was used during the first two trials.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NYT_1-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-NYT-1 <u>[1]</u>]</sup>
+He appealed the guilty verdict, but the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Supreme_Court <u>Mississippi Supreme Court</u>] upheld the conviction in 1997. The court said the 31-year lapse between the murder and De La Beckwith's conviction did not deny him a fair trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. Although Mississippi had a death penalty in 1963, it was unavailable because it and other death penalty laws in force at the time had been declared unconstitutional by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court <u>United States Supreme Court</u>] in the case of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia <u>Furman v. Georgia</u>]''. Beckwith sought review in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court <u>United States Supreme Court</u>], but that Court denied [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certiorari <u>certiorari</u>].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith#cite_note-8 <u>[8]</u>]</sup>
-{{stub}}
+On January 21, 2001, De La Beckwith died at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. He was 80 years old. He had suffered from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_disease <u>heart disease</u>], high [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure <u>blood pressure</u>] and other ailments.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NYT_1-8"></sup>
 [[Category:Absolute Evil]]
 [[Category:Fascists]]