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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
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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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