Byron De La Beckwith

Byron De La Beckwith (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American white supremacist and the assassin of civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi.

Related Topics:
November 9 - 1920 - January 21 - 2001 - American - White supremacist - Assassin - Civil rights - Medgar Evers - June 12 - 1963 - Jackson, Mississippi

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Two trials ended with deadlocked all-white juries unable to reach a verdict. Beckwith was finally convicted in 1994, based on new evidence that he had boasted about the killing at a Ku Klux Klan rally. He was given a life sentence for murder and died in prison in 2001 of heart problems, while his case was still being appealed. Insofar as Beckwith died while his appeal was pending, the conviction was vacated.

Related Topics:
Juries - 1994 - Ku Klux Klan

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The 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi tells the story of the 1994 trial; James Woods portrayed De La Beckwith in an Academy Award-nominated performance. The 1964 Bob Dylan song "Only a Pawn in their Game" viewed people like De La Beckwith as pawns manipulated by a powerful few committed to preserving a racist society in the Old South: "But when the shadowy sun sets on the one/That fired the gun/He'll see by his grave/On the stone that remains/Carved next to his name/His epitaph plain:/Only a pawn in their game."

Related Topics:
1996 film - Ghosts of Mississippi - James Woods - Academy Award - 1964 - Bob Dylan - Only a Pawn in their Game - Racist

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