ARREST in a 1964 MISSISSIPPI COLD CASE Introduction the Southern U.S
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ARREST IN A 1964 MISSISSIPPI COLD CASE Introduction The Southern U.S. state of Mississippi picked up the young men and took them Focus was a seething cauldron of racial tension to a remote wooded area in the Homoch- This CBC News in and violence in the late spring of 1964. It itto National Forest. Here they were tied Review story focus- was the beginning of Freedom Summer, to trees and brutally beaten and tortured, es on the remark- able investigative a determined effort by local black civil while the perpetrators demanded infor- documentary of a rights organizations and their Northern mation about an alleged black plot to CBC reporter. It also supporters to flood the state with activ- smuggle firearms into the area in order to profiles the coura- ists from all over the country. Their foment a violent uprising. Neither Moore geous struggle of non-violent campaign’s purpose was to nor Dee knew anything about such a the brother of an achieve racial equality and bring an end plan, which proved to be completely fic- African American to the system of segregation (enforced titious. Despite their denials, their violent who, along with his friend, was separation of races) that had denied local ordeal did not end. Nearly dead, Moore brutally murdered African Americans basic rights such as and Dee were thrown into the trunk of in Mississippi in voting for almost a century. a car, while the perpetrators drove them 1964. Together they Pitted against them were the state’s across the Mississippi River to an island. expose the racist entirely white political power structure, At this point, their nearly lifeless bod- terror that led to racist police forces, federal authorities ies were tied to an army jeep engine and the killings and the 40-year cover-up. reluctant to act, and most importantly, some old train rails and flywheels, and an even more dangerous, hidden enemy. dumped into the river. Six months later, This was the proudly racist Ku Klux Navy divers found their remains, with Klan (KKK), a secret white-supremacist obvious marks of the brutal torture to organization that had been terrorizing which they had been subjected. YV Sections blacks brave enough to demand their Despite the fact that Seale and Ed- marked with wards were arrested within days of this symbol indicate rights across the South since the end of content suitable for the U.S. Civil War. These forces were the deaths of Moore and Dee, and that younger viewers. extremely powerful and totally resistant Seale actually confessed to the crime, no to any change in the Southern way of charges were ever laid against them, and life that included complete white domi- the killings of these two young African- nance of the region’s economic, social, American men went unpunished. There and political life and the total subservi- was almost no media or public attention directed at this crime at the time. The ence of African Americans to a funda- two white KKK members believed to mentally unjust and undemocratic state have been responsible for the murders of affairs. This is what the civil rights were allowed to go free and never stood movement, under the inspirational lead- trial for their brutal acts. One reason for ership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this almost incredible lapse in the U.S. was determined to end. judicial system is the likelihood that the On May 2, 1964, the eve of Freedom murders of Moore and Dee were soon Summer, two Mississippi black youths, overshadowed by a similar crime: the Charles Moore and Henry Dee, who had killings of three civil rights workers, two absolutely no involvement in the civil of them whites from New York. Their rights struggle, were hitching a ride near deaths in Mississippi, just over a month the ice cream store in the small town of later, formed the basis for the 1988 Meadville. Local members of the Ku film Mississippi Burning and aroused Klux Klan, including James Ford Seale a national and international outcry. By and Charles Marcus Edwards, allegedly CBC News in Review • April 2007 • Page 33 contrast, the brutal torture and murder After months of determined investiga- of two Mississippi black men, neither of tion and many setbacks, Moore’s and whom had any association with the civil Ridgen’s efforts finally paid off. In early rights struggle, quickly became forgot- 2007, U.S. Attorney General Alberto ten. Their deaths were relegated to the Gonzalez announced in Washington, “cold case” files of unsolved crimes that D.C., that Seale was to be indicted by a law enforcement agencies were no lon- federal grand jury on two counts of kid- ger actively investigating. napping resulting in the deaths of Moore However, over four decades later, in and Dee. Edwards, who was not indicted, 2006, Thomas Moore, a retired U.S. was believed to be co-operating with the army sergeant-major, and CBC reporter FBI in order to avoid criminal prosecu- and documentary filmmaker David Rid- tion. After almost four decades of neglect gen collaborated in an effort to crack this and inaction, the murders of two inno- long-unsolved and forgotten cold case. cent 19-year-olds, whose only offence They travelled to Mississippi, where was being black in the wrong place at the they tracked down Edwards, and even wrong time, were receiving the atten- more surprisingly Seale, who was widely tion they should have been given years believed to have died. Using FBI docu- ago. And for Thomas Moore, whose life ments from the time and the testimony of has been haunted by the trauma of his eyewitnesses who had been reluctant to brother’s brutal killing and the 42-year- come forward, they pressured local and old cover-up that followed, justice was national law enforcement agencies to re- finally achieved. It took the remarkable open the case. At the same time, Moore efforts of a brave and determined Afri- spoke to black church groups in the area, can-American man and the journalistic who staged peaceful demonstrations and investigative skills of a Canadian reminiscent of the days of the civil rights reporter to achieve what local and federal era, demanding justice and the laying of law enforcement agencies in the United charges against Edwards and Seale. At States had been unable or unwilling to long last, national media outlets such as do over the course of four decades. The The New York Times and CNN started Mississippi cold-case file of 1964 was reporting on the case, raising public finally closed, and those accused of the awareness of it and pressuring authorities brutal, senseless murder of two young to act. men would at last face the justice system. To Consider 1. Why were racial tensions at such a high pitch in the Southern U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964? How did this situation affect what happened to Charles Moore and Henry Dee? 2. Why were the murders of Moore and Dee not solved, despite the fact that those allegedly responsible for them were well known locally and to law- enforcement agencies? 3. How did Thomas Moore and CBC reporter David Ridgen succeed in having the case re-opened and the alleged perpetrators of the crime brought to justice? 4. Before reading this News in Review story, how aware were you personally of the deep racial hatred in the Southern U.S. during this period? CBC News in Review • April 2007 • Page 34 ARREST IN A 1964 MISSISSIPPI COLD CASE YV Video Review 1. What were the names of two young African-American men who were kid- Watch the video napped, tortured, and murdered in Mississippi in May 1964? and answer the questions in the spaces provided. 2. What are the names of the two white Mississippi residents who are be- lieved to have been the ringleaders in the killings of these two young men? Further Research To stay informed about this case, 3. How did CBC reporter David Ridgen come to be involved in trying to solve consider visiting the this cold-case file? official Web site of the Attorney Gen- eral of the United 4. a) What is the name of the brother of one of the murdered young men? States at www. usdoj.gov/ag. b) Why was finding those responsible for his brother’s death so important to him? 5. What motive could local whites have for killing these two young African- American men? Why were their killings so brutal and cruel? 6. How did both local and national law-enforcement agencies work to stall the case and prevent it from going to trial in 1964? 7. What remarkable discovery did Ridgen and Moore make shortly after arriv- ing in Mississippi to investigate the case in 2006? 8. How did this discovery reawaken media interest and attention in the case? CBC News in Review • April 2007 • Page 35 9. How did Thomas Moore confront one of the two men he believed was re- sponsible for the murder of his brother? What effect did this confrontation have on solving the case? 10. Where does the case stand as of spring 2007? For Discussion 1. Why do you think a murder case such as this one could have remained an uninvestigated cold case in Mississippi for over four decades? Do you think a similar situation could have occurred in Canada? Why or why not? 2. The video contains a number of powerful scenes involving confrontations involving Thomas Moore, the brother of one of the murdered youths. Which of them do you find most dramatic, and why? 3.