The four victims, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, all 14, and Denise McNair, 11, were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2013.Ĭorrection: The original version of this story misstated Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr.’s age. Blanton bragged about the bombing in the tapes, using offensive language and saying, “I was on the corner watching the big blast” and “They ain’t going to catch me when I bomb my next church.” Blanton was convicted in part thanks to furtive recordings made by a KKK friend of his who became an informant for the FBI. Two other KKK members were also convicted in the bombings, and have died in prison. Those present at the hearing reportedly greeted the news with applause. The Alabama Board of Pardons in 2016 denied Blanton’s request for parole after he asked to die a free man. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. His petition was denied by an Alabama parole board on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. Former Ku Klux Klan member Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., who was convicted of murder in the infamous bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, is up for parole next year. Clair Correctional Facility, and has reportedly not accepted responsibility or expressed remorse for the bombing, but sought to be released to die as a free man. He is serving four back-to-back life sentences for his crime at the St. The bodies of Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14, were found in the downstairs lounge.Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr., the former Ku Klux Klan member and last living convicted bomber who took part in the 1963 attack on a church in Birmingham, has been denied parole.īlanton, 78, was not convicted until 2001, four decades after he took part in the bombing that killed four black girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church. 15, 1963, a bomb ripped through an exterior wall of the brick church, killing four girls who were inside preparing for a youth program. Investigators and spectators outside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., following an explosion that killed four young girls on Sept. Cherry was convicted in 2002 and died in prison in 2004. This undated file photo shows Alabama inmate Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., a one-time Ku Klux Klansman convicted in the 1963 church bombing that killed four. Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and died in prison in 1985. Crime Charged: Murder Chief Defense Lawyer: John C. Using the newly revealed evidence, Jones successfully prosecuted two more of the attackers that the FBI had identified: Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., convicted in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry. His role in the hateful act on September 15. The investigation into the bombing was stalled early and left dormant for long stretches, but two other ex-Klansmen, Robert Chambliss and Bobby Frank Cherry, also were convicted in the bombing in separate trials. (born June 20, 1930)was convicted in 2001 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th. While serving a life sentence, Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr., the last surviving 16th Street Baptist Church bomber, has passed away from natural causes. Moderates could no longer remain silent and the fight to topple segregation laws gained new momentum. The church bombing, exposing the depths of hatred by white supremacists as Birmingham integrated its public schools, was a tipping point of the civil rights movement. Kay Ivey's office said Blanton died of natural causes. FILE-This undated file photo shows Alabama inmate Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., a one-time Ku Klux Klansman convicted in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls in Birmingham, Ala. When asked by the judge if he had any comment, Blanton said: “I guess the good Lord will settle it on judgment day.”
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