Jimmie Lee Jackson
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Jimmie Lee Jackson (December 1938 - February 26, 1965) was a young, unarmed civil rights protestor who was shot by an Alabama State Trooper in 1965.[1] Jackson's death was among the abuses of African Americans that inspired the Selma to Montgomery marches, an important event in the American Civil Rights movement.[1]
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[edit] Personal background
Jimmie Lee Jackson was a deacon of the St. James Baptist Church in Marion, Alabama, ordained in the summer of 1964.[2] Jackson had tried to register without success for four years.[2] Jackson was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who had touched of a campaign against Alabama restrictions on Negro voting and attended meetings several nights per week at Zion's Chapel Methodist Church.[2] This desire to vote, led to his death at the hands of an Alabama State Trooper.[2]
[edit] Non-violent Protest
On the night of February 18, 1965, around 500 people left Zion United Methodist Church in Marion and attempted a peaceful walk to the Perry County Jail about a half a block away where young Civil Rights worker James Orange was being held.[3] The marchers planned to sing hymns and return to the church. Police later stated they believed the crowd was planning a jailbreak.[3]
[edit] Police Violence
They were met at the Post Office[3] by a line of Marion City police officers, sheriff’s deputies and Alabama State Troopers.[1] In the standoff, streetlights were abruptly turned off (some sources[3] say they were shot out by the police) and the police began to beat the protestors.[3][1] Two United Press International photographers were beaten by the police and their cameras were smashed and NBC News correspondent Richard Valeriani was beaten so badly that he was hospitalized.[3] The marchers turned and scattered back towards the church.
Twenty-six-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson, his mother Viola Jackson, and his 82-year-old grandfather, Cager Lee, ran into Mack’s Café behind the church, pursued by Alabama State Troopers. Police clubbed Cager Lee to the floor[1] in the kitchen. The police continued to beat the cowering octagenarian Lee and when his daughter Viola attempted to pull the police off, she was also beaten.[4] When Jimmie Lee attempted to protect his mother, one trooper threw him against a cigarette machine. A second trooper shot Jimmie Lee twice in the abdomen.[4] James Bonard Fowler later admitted to being that trooper.[1] Although shot twice, Jimmie Lee fled the café amid additional blows from police clubs and collapsed in front of the bus station.[3] Jackson made a statement to a lawyer, Oscar Adams of Birmingham in the presence of FBI officials stating he was "clubbed down" by State Troopers after he was shot and had run away from the café. [5]
Jimmie Lee Jackson died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Selma, on February 26, 1965.[3][1] After his death, Sister Michael Anne, and administrator at Good Samaritan, said there were powder burns on Mr. Jackson's abdomen, indicating that he was shot at very close range.[5]
[edit] Burial
Jackson was buried in Heard Cemeterey, an old slave burial ground, next to his father.[3] His headstone was financed by the Perry County Civic league and since his burial, his headstone has been vandalized, bearing the marks of at least one shotgun blast.[3]
[edit] Justice delayed
A grand jury declined to indict Fowler in September 1965, identifying him only by his surname: Fowler.[1]
On 10 May 2007, 42 years after the crime, Fowler was charged with first degree and second degree murder for the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson[6] and surrendered to authorities. A date for his trial has not been set as of January 2008.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Fleming, John (6 March 2005), “The Death of Jimmie Lee Jackson”, The Anniston Star, <http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2005/as-insight-0306-jflemingcol-5c09o1640.htm>. Retrieved on 21 January 2008
- ^ a b c d Reed, Roy (03-01-1965), “Memorial Service Honors Negro Slain in Alabama Rights March”, New York Times: 17
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Davis, Townsend (1998). Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 121-123. ISBN 0393045927.
- ^ a b Kotz, Nick (2005). Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws that Changed America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 275,276. ISBN 0618088253.
- ^ a b Reed, Roy (27-02-1965), “Wounded Negro Dies in Alabama”, New York Times: 1, 10
- ^ “Nation in Brief: Indictment Brought in Civil-Rights-Era Death”, Washington Post: A08, May 10, 2007, <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050902488.html>. Retrieved on 28 January 2008
- ^ Rawls, Phillip (22 January, 2008), “No trial date yet in fatal civil rights-era shooting in Alabama”, Florida Times-Union (Associated Press), <http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/012208/D8UB6AC03.shtml>. Retrieved on 25 January 2008
