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i Police News/Vancouver
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Weather
lnside-A
Ju stic e S e rv e d in
B irm ing ham D eaths.. A 4
A lb e rta S tree t
M erch a n ts D isp lay
S tu d e n t A rt
P ro je c ts ........................A 5
Metro-
Today
' ^4 *
PC C E xpansion w ill
D isplace N e ig h b o rs ...B 5
This Week
y
M ay 9 1994. South A fric a ’s
new ly elected- parliam ent chose
N elson M andela to be the country’s
first black president.
Partly Cloudy
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fhrougli the
Weekend
Saturday
Partly Cloudy
77°F High '
54°F Low
Mostly Cloudy
74°F High
66 F High
j
46°F Lou
Thursday
C ollecting G u n s to K eep
C o m m unities S a f e ......B I
B la z e rs F ire
D u n le a v y .....................B2
Friday
Partly Cloudy
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Sunday
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Suspect Charged in Home Robbery
5 0 -Y e a r o ld G re g o ry A llen
M o o re h a s b een a rre s te d and
ch a rg ed in a M ay 1 re s id e n tia l
ro b b e ry o f an e ld e rly c o u p le
in n o rth e a s t P o rtla n d .
T he tw o had ju s t re tu rn e d
a f te r m a k in g a b a n k w ith
d ra w al, w h en M o o re ca m e to
th e d o o r fra u d u le n tly c la im in g
to be a c ity e m p lo y e e , p o lic e
said.
H e ’s a c c u se d o f te llin g th e
c o u p le he n ee d ed to ta k e a
w a te r sam p le and a fte r e n te r
ing th e hom e, a s s a u lte d and
ro b b e d th e 8 7 -y e a r-o ld h u s
b an d an d 8 5 -y e a r-o td w ife.
M o o re h as b ee n c h a rg e d
w ith tw o co u n ts o f ro b b e ry ,
tw o co u n ts o f k id n a p p in g , o ne
c o u n t o f b u rg la ry and p a ro le
violation.
Gregory’ Allen Moore
4 9 °F low
New Community Court Opens
Thought for the Week
Talking little, and with the low, tender part o f our
voices, as in nodding to one who already knows what you
mean. — Tess Gallagher
M ay 10 1869, a golden spike
was driven at Prom ontory, Utah,
m arking the com pletion o f the first
transcontinental railroad in the
United States.
M ay 11 1973, charges against
Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the
Pentagon Papers case were dis
missed by Judge W illiam M. Byrne,
w ho cited governm ent m iscon
duct.
M ay 121943,during W orldW ar
II, A xis forces in N orth A frica sur
rendered.
M ay 13 1981, Pope John Paul 11
w as shot and seriously w ounded
in St. P eter’s Square by Turkish
assailant M ehm et A li Agca.
A new W estside Community
Court has opened at the downtown
Justice Center.
The court is modeled after a
jurisdiction in midtown M anhat
tan, New York, that combines com
munity service accountability and
on-site social services for m isde
meanor defendants.
The WestsideCommunity Court
also follows the successful North/
Northeast and Southeast Portland
Com munity Court projects.
The new court will arraign all
misdem eanor and violations that
o c c u r in c e n tra l p re cin ct or
Portland’s westside. All defendants
who opt for community Court will
undergo a social service screening.
More in-depth analysis, referrals,
and treatment will be available on
site, nest door to the courtroom.
Defendants who plead guilty will be
assigned to community service
projects and when appropriate, so
cial service sentences.
TheNorth/Northeast Community
Court continues to operate Wednes
days at the King Neighborhood Fa
cility, 4815 NE 7th Ave. The South
east Community Court operates ev
ery Thursday at the Brentwood
Darlington Community Center at
7211 SE 62nd Ave. The courts wel
come members o f the community
to observe the proceedings.
Jury Convicts Klansman in 1963 Bombing
A black minister was instrumental in getting the FBI to reopen the case
Bv J ay R eeves
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921 SE M orrison. S te 424 Portland, Oregon 97205
BIRM INGHAM, A la.— A former
Ku Klux Klansm an was convicted o f
m urder last w eek for the 1963 church
bom bing that killed four black girls,
the deadliest single attack during
the civil rights m ovem ent.
T hom as B lanton Jr., 62, w as sen
tenced to life in prison by the sam e
ju ry that found him guilty after 21/2
hours o f deliberations. Before he
was led out o f the courtroom in hand
cuffs, the ju d g e asked him if he had
any com m ent.
“ I guess the good L ord will settle
it on ju d g m en t day,” Blanton said.
B lan to n is the seco n d form er
K lansm an to be convicted o f plant
ing the bom b that w ent o ff at the
Sixteenth Street B aptist C hurch on
Sept. 15,1963, a Sunday m orning.
T he bom b ripped through an exte
rior w all o f the b rick church. The
bodies o f D enise M cN air, 11, and
A ddie M ae Collins, C ynthia W esley
and C arole R obertson, all 14, were
found in the dow nstairs lounge.
D e n is e ’s p a r e n ts , C h ris an d
M axine M cNair, did not com m ent as
they left the courthouse. Chris McNair
w as hugged by U .S. A ttorney D oug
Jones, w ho fought back tears as he
told reporters: "W e ’re happy for the
fam ilies. W e’re happy for the girls.”
The Rev. A braham W oods, ablack
m inister instrum ental in getting the
FBI to reopen the case in 1993,saidhe
was delighted w ith the verdict.
“ It m akes a statem ent on how far
w e’ve com e,” said W oods, the local
president o f the Southern Christian
L eadership Conference.
D efense attorney John Robbins
4 said the sw ift verdict show ed the ju ry
was caught up in the em otion sur
rounding the notorious case. H e said
he w ould seek an ew tnal, arguing the
case should have been m oved out o f
Birm ingham and B lanton’s right to a
speedy trial had been violated.
He also said the lack o f w hite men
on the ju ry — eight w hite women,
three black w om en and one black man
returned the verdict — “absolutely
hurt B lanton.” The jurors, who were
publicly identified only by number,
left w ithout com ment.
The case is the latest from the
turbulent civil rights era to be revived
b y p r o s e c u to r s . B y ro n D e L a
Beckw ith was convicted in 1994 o f
a ssa ssin a tin g civ il rig h ts lead er
M edgar Evers in 1963 and former
Kian imperial wizard Sam Bowers was
convicted three years ago o f the 1966
firebomb-killing ofan NAACP leader.
But the church bom bing was a
galvanizing moment o f the civil rights
m o v em en t. M o d erates co u ld no
longer rem ain silent and the fight to
topple segregation laws gained new
momentum.
D uring closing argum ents, Jones
told the ju ry that it was “never too late
for justice."
He said B lanton acted in response
to m onths o f civil rights dem onstra
tions. The church had becom e a ral
lying point for protesters.
“Tom Blanton saw change and
d id n ’t like it,” Jones said as black-
and-w hite im ages o f the church and
the girls dressed in S unday clothing
flashed on video screens in the court
room.
A ssistant U.S. A ttorney Robert
Posey added: “T he defendant d id n ’t
care w ho he killed as long as he killed
som eone and as long as that person
w as black.”
“T hese children m ust n o t have
died in vain," he said. “ D o n ’t let the
deafening blast o fh is bom b be w hat ’ s
left ringing in our ears.”
Robbins argued that the govern
m ent had proved only that Blanton
w as once a foul-m outhed segrega
tionist, not a bom ber. H e said m urky
tapes o fh is client secretly recorded
by the FBI were illegally obtained and
should not have been adm itted as
evidence. The surveillance began af
ter Blanton and other K lansm an were
identified as suspects w ithin weeks
o f the bombing.
The FBI planted a hidden m icro
phone in Blanton’s apartm ent in 1964
and taped his conversations w ith
M itchell Bum s, a fellow K lansm an-
tum ed-inform ant. Posey w ent over
the tapes for jurors, putting transcript
excerpts on the video screens. He
read from one transcript in w hich
Blanton described h im self to Bum s
as a clean-cut guy: “ I like to go shoot
ing, I like to go fishing, I like to go
bom bing.”
Posey also quoted B lanton as say
ing he was through w ith w om en. “I
am g o in g to stic k to b o m b in g
churches,” Blanton said, according
to Posey.
O n one tape, Blanton was heard
telling Bum s that he would not be
ca u g h t “ w hen I bom b m y n ex t
church.” On another m ade in his
kitchen, he is heard talking with his
w ife about a meeting where “we
planned the bom b.”
“ T hat is a confession out o f this
m an ’s m outh,” said Jones, pointing
to Blanton.
The defense argued that the tape
made inBlanton’skitchen meant noth
ing because prosecutors failed to play
26 m inutes o f previous conversation.
“Y ou ca n ’t judge a conversation in a
vacuum ,” Robbins said.
Robbins also said Blanton’s co n
versations with Bum s were nothing
but boasting betw een “two drunk
rednecks.” He dism issed Bum s and
other prosecution w itnesses as liars.
Another former Kian member, Rob
ert “ D ynam ite B ob” Cham bliss, was
convicted ofm urder in 1977 and died
in prison in 1985.
A nother former Klansman, Bobby
Frank Cherry, was indicted last year
but his trial was delayed after evalu
ations raised questions about his
m ental com petency. A fourth sus
pect, H erm an Cash, died w ithout b e
ing charged. The Justice Departm ent
concluded 20 years ago that form er
FBI D irector J. Edgar H oover had
blocked prosecution o f Klansm en in
the bom bing. The case was reopened
following a 1993 meeting in Birm ing
ham betw een FBI officials and black
m inisters, including Woods.
The investigation was not revealed
publicly until 1997, when agents went
to T exas to talk to Cherry.
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