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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2007)
<ri,‘ |Jorthuiù (Ohseruer lune 27. 2007 L aw Page B3 J ustice Congress Moves on Unsolved Murders Division would review Civil Rights-era cases (AP) — The U.S. House has passed a bill to establish a new division of federal prosecutors and FBI agents focused strictly on cracking unsolved murders from the civil rights era. The bill, which is also moving swiftly through the Senate, would authorize $10 million a year over the next de cade to create a unit at the Justice Departm ent to pursue cases that have sat cold for decades. It also would earm ark $2 million per year in grants for state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate cases where federal prosecution isn’t practical, and another $ 1.5 million to improve coor dination among investigating agencies. The bill, passed 422-2, is named in honor of Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who was beaten and murdered in M ississippi in 1955 after being accused o f whistling at a white woman. His killers were never con victed. We must do something to right these w rongs,” said Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Dem ocrat and civil rights veteran who sponsored the bill. “We We have cm obligation ... let us move to close this dark stain on our nation 's history. - U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. have an obligation ... let us move to close this dark stain on our nation's history." State and federal prosecutors have had a string o f successes recently in reopening racially m otivated slayings from the 1950s and 1960s, including the 1963 Birmingham, Ala., church bombing and the 1964 slayings of three civil rights volunteers in Mississippi. Old Files Contain Disturbing Revelation: FBI investigated Georgia Governor in lynching (AP) - N ew ly released files from the lynching o f two black couples in M onroe, Ga. more than 60 years ago contain a disturbing revela tion: The FBI investigated suspi cions that a three-term governor of G eorgia sanctioned the m urders to sway rural w hite voters during a tough election cam paign. The 3,725 pages obtained by The A ssociated Press under the Free dom o f Information Act do not make co n c lu sio n s about the still-u n solved killings at M oore's Ford Bridge. But they raise the possibil ity that Eugene Tai m adge's politics may have been a factor w hen a w hite m ob dragged the four from a car, tied them to a tree and opened fire. ''I'm not surprised ... historians over the years have concluded the violently racist tone o f his 1946 cam paign may have been indirectly responsible for the violence that cam e at M oore's Ford," said Robert Pratt, a U niversity o f G eorgia his tory professor who has studied the case. "It's fair to say he's one o f the m ost virulently racist governors the state has ever had." Talm adge, w hodiedjust months after his 1946 election to a fourth term, dom inated G eorgia pol itics in the 1930s and 1940s with a mix of racism and pocketbook populism . He cam e under FBI scrutiny be cause o f a visit he m ade to the north G eorgia tow n o f M onroe tw o days before the D em ocratic gubernato rial prim ary and a day after a highly charged racial incident there, a fight in w hich a black sharecro p p er Georgia Gov. Eugene Talmadge attends a Democratic National Committee meeting in 1936. (AP Photo) stabbed and severely w ounded a white farmer. The sharecropper was one o f the four people w ho would later be lynched. In a report sent to FBI D irector J. Edgar Hoover, the agent in charge o f the investigation said T alm adge met with George Hester, the brother o f the stabbed farm er. Citing an unconfirmed witness statement, the agent said Talm adge offered im m u nity to anyone "taking care o f negro." W hile the agent dism issed the notion o f Talm adge's involvem ent as "unbelievable," he said it still merited investigation. Other memos raised suspicions that state em ployees could even have been ac tive participants in the lynching. The lynchings o f Roger and Dorothy M alcom , and G eorge and Mae M urray Dorsey on July 25, 1946. came eight days after the elec tion and followed weeks o f sim m er ing tensions. There w ere rum ors that G eorge Dorsey, an Arm y veteran, had se cretly been dating a w hite w om an — a taboo in the segregated South. And the town's w hite establish m ent w as enrag ed w ith R oger M alcom , who was im prisoned after sta b b in g w hite farm er B arney Hester. M alcom was waiting injail when white farmer Loy Harrison paid $600 to bail him out. Harrison said he was driving M alcom , his wife and the other couple home, when he was am bushed by a white mob that sur rounded his car near the M oore's Ford Bridge. As many as 30 people c o n v e rg ed on the v eh icle and pul led out the two couples, dragged them down a nearby trail and tied them to trees. Then the m ob fired three volleys o f bullets at the couples, leaving their dead bodies slum ped behind in the dirt. O ne o f the victims, D or othy Malcom, was seven months' pregnant. An outraged President Trum an dispatched FBI agents to Monroe, about 45 miles east o f Atlanta. But the local com m unity — both white and black — clam m ed up. W hite farm ers were described by the FBI as "extrem ely clannish, not well educated and highly sen s itiv e to 'o u ts id e ' c r itic is m ." Harrison, for one, told police he couldn't identify any o f the partici pants. Black families, w hooften share- cro p p ed on w hite farm s, w ere "frightened and even terrified" when approached by FBI agents. The M oore's Ford lynching is am ong about a dozen other un solved cases from the civil rights era that the FBI has recently re opened but the bureau refused to com m ent on the ongoing investi gation. M ost recently, p ro secutors won the co nviction o f reputed K lansm an Jam es Ford Seale on federal charges o f k idnapping and conspiracy in the 1964 deaths o f C harles M oore and Henry H ezekiah Dee. The 19-year- o ld s d is a p p e a re d from F ra n k lin C ounty, M iss., in 1964, and th eir bodies w ere found later in the M is sissippi River. Earlier this year, the Justice D e partm ent announced it was reopening investigations into about a dozen sus picious deaths in the South. But law makers and advocates say there are dozens, if not hundreds, more cases that are ripe for review. Apology to Teens Kicked Off Bus (AP) — Tri Met has apolo gized to the family o f a lesbian teenager who was kicked off a bus when a passenger com plained about her kissing an other girl. "Removing the girls from the bus was not consistent with our policy," said TriM et G en eral M anager Fred Hansen. "I want to reiterate that we wel come all riders on our sys tem." The 64-year-old bus driver will face disciplinary action for removing the two 14-year-old girls during a June 8 incident aboard his bus, TriM et offi cials said. But nodetails about the discipline were released. The driver, an 11 -year vet eran, violated several agency procedures and policies, offi cials said. The girls said the driver called them "sickos" after a female passenger com plained ab o u t th eir kiss. He then stopped the bus along the street and forced them off. The actions by the girls did not warrant being rem oved from the bus. and Tri Met policy requires operators to call for assistance before rem oving any minors, a June 20 state ment from the transit agency said. ^rVilLiams. Leon's Barber Shop 1319 NE Freemont St PorHand, OR 97212 8 am - 6 pm Tues -Sat. Shop 503 282 2920 Cell 503 309 4488 Your Care Our First Priority Dr. Marceline Faillit Chiroprat tic Physician HE are located at 1716 N .E. 42"*1 Ave. Portland, O R 97213 I Between Broadway and Sandy Bird.) Credit Card Thief Wanted T he P ortland P olice B ureau, in co operation w ith C rim e S toppers, is asking fo r help in a p p re h en d ing a su sp ected thief. P ortland P olice D etectiv es are co n d u ctin g an in v estig atio n in v o lv in g id e n tity th e ft w h e re cred it cards have been taken in resid en tial burg laries. D ebra Lee M cIntyre. 46 has been linked to the fra u d u len t use o f those credit cards. S h e 's also w anted on m ul tip le co u n ts o f id en tity theft in C lack am as C ounty. M c In ty re is d e sc rib e d as a w hite fem ale, 5 -fo o t-l I and 145 p o u n d s, w ith b ro w n h air and brow n eyes. She has tatto o s on her back, right w rist, and a m ole on h er left cheek. P olice said M cIntyre has lived in th e S e llw o o d a re a an d in M ilw aukie and has a long h isto ry o f fraud, identity th eft and drug ■ use. She also uses the fo llo w in g aliases: M arg ie G ates, M argie V oyles, E lain a W eim er, E laina U ntalan, and D ebra K rajeski. C rim e S to p p ers is o ffe rin g a cash rew ard o f up to $ 1 ,9 0 0 for in fo rm atio n , rep o rted to C rim e S to p p ers, that leads to an arrest in th is case, o r any u n so lv e d felony, and you rem ain a n o n y mous. Call C rim e Stoppers at 503- 823-HELP(4357). • Automobile accident injuries • Chronic headache and joint pain • Workers Com pensation injuries Call for an appointment! (503)228-6140 Have you seen me? Missing and Exploited Children 1-800-THE-LOST Debra McIntyre July 18, 2007 s Endangered Missing (Non-Family Abductions) State Farm * Providing InsuiancR and financial Services THE ALAN BROADBENT L A. TRIO Home Office, Bloomington. Illinois 61710 Ernest J. 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If you have any information please contact: The National Center for M is s in g and Exploited Children 1-800-1 T IE -L O S T (1-800-843-5678) This public service announcement provided hr the Portland O hsener Newspaper.