AG closes case on 1964 killings of civil rights workers

By Warren Kulo
on June 20, 2016 at 1:45 PM
updated June 20, 2016 at 1:54 PM

JACKSON, Mississippi -- One day before the 53rd anniversary of the slayings, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced he is closing the investigation into the killings of three civil rights workers in 1964 -- a case which served as the basis for the movie "Mississippi Burning."

Mississippi native James Chaney, a 21-year-old African American, along with two white New Yorkers -- Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner, 24, .... had been registering black voters in Mississippi when they were arrested by Neshoba County law enforcement, imprisoned for several hours and then released into the hands of members of the Ku Klux Klan. Subsequent court cases outlined a conspiracy between the Klan and Neshoba County officials.

In 1967, seven men were convicted on federal conspiracy charges and given sentences of 3-10 years, but none were tried for murder and none served more than six years.

The presiding judge, William Cox, was quoted as saying "They killed one n----r, one Jew and a white man. I gave them all what I thought they deserved" ...

http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2016/06/ag_hood_closes_case_on_1964_ki.html