Alton Wayne Roberts

Alton Wayne Roberts
Born (1938-04-06)April 6, 1938
Died September 11, 1999(1999-09-11) (aged 61)
Meridian, Mississippi

Alton Wayne Roberts (April 6, 1938 – September 11, 1999) was a Klansman convicted of depriving slain activists Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney of their civil rights in 1964. He personally shot two of the three civil rights workers before his accomplices buried their bodies in a dam.

Early life

Roberts had a younger brother by the name of Raymond.[1][2][3] Roberts played football during high school.[4]

Murders

Roberts, then 26 years old,[5] owned a bar in Meridian, Mississippi at the time of the murders.[6]

On the night of June 21, 1964, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were riding in a station wagon together after they were released from jail earlier that night. Later on, deputy sheriff Cecil Price managed to pull them over and ordered the trio to get inside his police car. Price then drove them to a remote location on Rock Cut Road, where the other Klansmen had awaited for their presence.[7]

When they arrived, Roberts reportedly pulled Schwerner out of the car, pointing a gun at his chest. "Are you that nigger lover?" Roberts asked, his left hand on Schwerner's shoulder. "Sir, I know just how you feel," Schwerner replied. Roberts then shot him in the heart and then grabbed Goodman, shooting him in the chest near his right shoulder. Chaney ran, but Roberts along with other Klansmen were able to shoot him dead before he could run any farther. Roberts fired into Chaney's lower back and his head.[6][7] Prosecutors said that Roberts fired two of the three bullets found in Chaney's body.[4]

Conviction

Roberts was indicted on February 28, 1967. He went to federal trial in Meridian on October 7 of that same year; 13 days later, he was convicted.[8] At the sentence hearing on December 29, 1967, Judge William Harold Cox sentenced Roberts 10 years in federal prison.[6][8][9] Roberts served no more than six years, and was free on appeal bond.[10][11][12]

Encounter with Laurens Pierce

Roberts gained national recognition on January 27, 1965 when Jack Thornell took photos of him beating up CBS cameraman Laurens Pierce outside the federal courthouse in Meridian where he was in trial at the time.[13][14] Roberts's encounter with Pierce was mentioned in the press the next day.[15][16]

Personal life

Along with owning a bar, Roberts was also a window salesman and a mobile home salesman.[4][10][11]

According to People, Roberts was running an after-hours set-up bar in Meridian during 1989.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Feldman, Jay (2012). Manufacturing Hysteria: A History of Scapegoating, Surveillance, and Secrecy in Modern America. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307388230.
  2. ↑ Chalmers, David Mark (2005). Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742523111.
  3. ↑ Sims, Patsy (1996). The Klan. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813108872.
  4. 1 2 3 4 McWhorter, Diane (9 January 1989). "Since Mississippi Burned". People. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Mars, Florence (1989). Witness in Philadelphia. LSU Press. ISBN 9780807115664.
  6. 1 2 3 Ladd, Donna (21 June 2004). "Down a Southern Road". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 Mitchell, Jerry (1 December 2007). "Six living suspects from 1964 civil rights murders". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  8. 1 2 Putnam, Richelle (2011). "Lauderdale County, Mississippi: A Brief History". The History Press. ISBN 9781609490218.
  9. ↑ Dickerson, James (1998). "Dixie's Dirty Secret: The True Story of how the Government, the Media, and the Mob Conspired to Combat Integration and the Vietnam Antiwar Movement". M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9780765603401.
  10. 1 2 Faulkner, Leesha (12 June 2005). "CAST OF CHARACTERS FROM 37 YEARS AGO HAS CHANGED". Free Republic. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  11. 1 2 Faulkner, Leesha (12 June 2005). "Cast of characters from 37 years ago has changed". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Johnston, Araminta Stone (2010). "And One Was a Priest: The Life and Times of Duncan M. Gray Jr.". Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604738292.
  13. ↑ CBS cameraman Laurens Pierce, left, struggles for his camera with Alton Wayne Roberts outside the Federal Building in Meridian, Miss., Jan. 27, 1965. Roberts, a defendant in civil rights slayings, punched Pierce moments later. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell)
  14. ↑ Alton Wayne Roberts, right punches CBS cameraman Laurens Pierce outside the Federal Building in Meridian, Miss., Jan. 27, 1965. Roberts, a 26-year-old salesman, was a defendant in the deaths of three civil rights workers. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell)
  15. ↑ "24 More Arrests in Alabama Voter Drive". Chicago Tribune. 28 January 1965. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "17 Deny Slaying Plot Guilt". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 28 January 1965. Retrieved 1 June 2015.

External links

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