Sense of relief with civil rights era conviction

Mark Potter Correspondent • E-mail

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. — Closing a painful chapter of the civil rights era on Tuesday, a jury convicted Edgar Ray Killen, 80, of manslaughter in the deaths of the three young civil rights workers —  Michael Schwerner, 24, James Chaney, 21, and Andrew Goodman, 20 — whose disappearance 41 years ago gripped the nation and ushered in landmark legislation.

A day later, NBC News’ Mark Potter reports on the mood in the town of Philadelphia.

What is the sentiment on Wednesday now that Edgar Ray Killen has been convicted of manslaughter in connection with the 1964 slaying of three civil rights workers?
There is a sense that justice was done and also a sense of relief that it worked out. People are glad that the trial is over, they are glad that there was a verdict.

A mistrial could have been as disastrous as an acquittal for the reputation of the town of Philadelphia.

So, because there was a conviction — most people in town seem to be breathing a sigh of relief. That they can get on with business, get on with going forward, and maybe casting aside finally the national spotlight.

Killen was the one guy who was seen by law enforcement officials as the mastermind, and the one who organized the killings. And, yet, he was the one who got away in 1967.

He was nearly convicted by a vote of 11 to one, but there was one hold out who said that she refused to convict a preacher. He was a Klan leader, a part-time preacher, and a sawmill owner. Because he was a minister, one juror refused to convict him. So, all this time, he was out there. He escaped conviction all those years ago, but finally it happened.

I asked one man I talked to, an African-American, what he thought of the verdict. He told me he was glad that the verdict finally came. But, that he was sorry that Edgar Ray Killen had 41 years of freedom after the three civil rights workers were killed. He thought that was way too long for justice to be done.  

Is there a sense of disappointment that Killen was only convicted of manslaughter and not murder?
I don’t think there is widespread disappointment in that.

I think there is actually relief that there was a verdict at all and a conviction. I don’t think that the details of the conviction matter that much, just that there was one.

I truly think that there is a sense of relief that this case has been heard by a local jury and that a decision has been made, so to that finally this town can put this case behind it.

Philadelphia, Mississippi and Neshoba County have carried the horror of this case for 41 years. There have been many people in this area who have said that the only way to get beyond the ghost of 1964 is to bring this case to trial with state charges, a local jury, and a judgment by local residents. That has come now and given that, I think there is a sense of relief.

There is a belief that the voices of the three victims, the three civil rights workers, had finally been heard, and that the town had finally done something about it, on its own.

It was a hometown answer to an event that occurred nearby. I think that there is a sense of pride in that, and also a feeling that maybe this will finally allow the town to move forward, away from this violent chapter in Mississippi’s history. 

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