01/09/06
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The
firebombed home of Vernon Dahmer.
AP Photo.
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Around
two in the morning on January 10, 1966—40
years ago Tuesday—African-American
civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer and
his family were awakened by the sound of
honking horns outside their farmhouse, some
five miles north of Hattiesburg.
As
they scrambled out of bed, two carloads
of Ku Klux Klan members set their home and
adjacent grocery store ablaze with gasoline
and blasted the buildings with shotguns
to make sure no one came out alive.
Dahmer's
bravery partially foiled their plan.
In the midst of roaring flames, he fired
his gun in the direction of the attackers
to hold them off while his wife and three
children escaped out of rear windows. The
Klansmen drove away. Dahmer managed to escape
the house, but he was so badly burned he
died later that day. His 10-year-old daughter
also suffered painful burns, and the family
home, grocery store, and car were destroyed.
Let
the investigation begin. At 3:15 that
morning, an FBI agent in Meridian, Mississippi,
got a phone call about the attack and quickly
opened an investigation in concert with
local authorities. Nearly 20 FBI agents
began canvassing the area. They interviewed
local Klansmen and Klan informants and gathered
120 pieces of evidence—including tire
tracks and shell casings—that were
analyzed by the FBI Lab in Washington. They
also learned that the day before the attack,
a Sunday radio program had announced that
Dahmer would help blacks register to vote
by making his country store one of the few
spots in the area where they could pay their
$2 poll tax.
Our
agents soon identified a number of suspects
and compiled a 1,100 page report outlining
the case. On March 27, a complaint was filed
against fourteen men. Thirteen were arrested
by the next day. The 14th—Sam Bowers,
the Imperial Wizard of the Mississippi White
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, who had ordered
the attack—turned himself in several
days later.
Making
the charges stick proved more difficult.
Several trials ended in deadlocked juries.
We later found out that these mistrials
were often the result of jury tampering
by Klan supporters. Only four of those involved
in the murder were found guilty and sentenced
under federal law. Sam Bowers went free
after several trials ended in hung juries.
(Bowers did spend six years in jail later,
however, for his role in the infamous
1964 "Mississippi Burning" case.
In
the 1990s, local District Attorneys twice
reopened the case. Witnesses who had been
unwilling or unable to testify earlier came
forward and sought to set the record straight
about that horrific night. Our agents assisted
as well, providing evidence to prosecutors
and other investigative help as needed.
Our informants also provided crucial testimony.
This
time around, justice was served. On
August 21, 1998, Sam Bowers was convicted
for ordering Dahmer's murder and sentenced
to life in prison.
To
learn more about our work in protecting
civil rights, which dates back as far as
the 1920s, see our Civil
Rights webpage.
