James Coyle

Father James Coyle (died August 11, 1921), a Roman Catholic priest, was the victim of a notorious Ku Klux Klan murder in Alabama during the 1920's.

Related Topics:
August 11 - 1921 - Roman Catholic - Ku Klux Klan - Alabama

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Father Coyle was murdered on the porch of St. Paul's Rectory in Birmingham, Alabama by Klansman E.R. Stephenson. The murder happened after Stephenson's daughter married a Puerto Rican man against her father's wishes. Father Coyle performed the marriage ceremony, prompting Stephenson, a Methodist preacher who disapproved of Catholics and Puerto Ricans, to shoot Coyle.

Related Topics:
Birmingham, Alabama - Methodist

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Stephenson was subsequently charged with Father Coyle's murder in an Alabama court. The Ku Klux Klan, however, used its organization to secure Stephenson's acquital. The case was assigned to the courtroom of Judge William E. Fort, a klansman himself. Hugo Black, a Klan attorney and future Justice of the Supreme Court, defended Stephenson. Fort and Black ensured that several Klansmen were selected on the jury and communicated to them using the organization's hand gestures during the trial. As a result, Stephenson was acquitted on only one vote of the jury.

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The outcome of murder trial for Father Coyle's assassin had a chilling impact on Catholics, who found themselves the target of Klan violence for many years to come.

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