The investigation remained quiet until 1997 when agents went to Texas to talk to Cherry.Ī decade earlier, the U.S. But I’m not responsible for it.”Ī 1993 meeting in Birmingham between FBI officials and Black ministers led to the reopening of the bombing case against Blanton and Cherry. and that’s why I’m here,” Blanton told the television station from prison. “I think I was cleverly set up by the government. In a 2006 interview with Birmingham station WBRC-TV, he claimed the government used trumped-up evidence and lies to gain his conviction. “Tom Blanton saw change and didn’t like it,” Jones said in the trial.īlanton proclaimed his innocence years after being sent to prison. The targeted church was a rallying point for protesters. Attorney Jones, appointed as a special state prosecutor, said Blanton acted in response to months of civil rights demonstrations. Lisa McNair, the sister of Denise McNair, said she also hoped Blanton had repented and added: “I wish I could have sat down with him to find out if he had had a change of heart.”īlanton never admitted any role in the blast, but evidence showed he was part of a group of hard-core Klansmen who made a bomb and planted it on a Sunday morning.ĭuring the trial, then-U.S. "She hopes that he found Jesus Christ and repented,” George Rudolph said on behalf of his wife. The bodies of Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14, were found in the downstairs lounge.Ĭollins’ sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph, survived the blast but lost her right eye and is known as the “fifth little girl.” Glass fragments remained in her chest, left eye and abdomen for decades after the explosion.Ī parole hearing was scheduled next year for Blanton, and Rudolph and her husband planned to attend in opposition to his release, which was denied during a previous hearing. 15, 1963, a bomb ripped through an exterior wall of the brick church, killing four girls who were inside preparing for a youth program. Cherry was convicted in 2002 and died in prison in 2004. Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and died in prison in 1985. 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. 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.
“That he died at this moment, when the country is trying to reconcile the multi-generational failure to end systemic racism, seems fitting,” Jones said in a statement.
#THOMAS EDWIN BLANTON JR. PAROLLE FREE#
Doug Jones, who prosecuted Blanton, said the fact that Blanton remained free for almost 40 years after the bombing “speaks to a broader systemic failure to hold him and his accomplices accountable.” Provided by the Office of the Governor of Alabama | asked by the judge during sentencing if he had any comment, Blanton said: “I guess the good Lord will settle it on judgment day.” “Let us never forget that Sunday morning in September of 1963 and the four young ladies whose lives ended far too soon, but let us continue taking steps forward to heal, do better and honor those who sacrificed everything for Alabama and our nation to be a home of opportunity for all.” Although his passing will never fully take away the pain or restore the loss of life, I pray on behalf of the loved ones of all involved that our entire state can continue taking steps forward to create a better Alabama for future generations. That was a dark day that will never be forgotten in both Alabama’s history and that of our nation. His role in the hateful act on Septemstole the lives of four innocent girls and injured many others. “While serving a life sentence, Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr., the last surviving 16 th Street Baptist Church bomber, has passed away from natural causes. MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Friday, following the passing of Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr., the last surviving 16 th Street Baptist Church bomber, issued this statement:
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