Klan leader denies 'Mississipi Burning' killings charges

[ukangel]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A 79-year-old former leader of the militant racist Klu Klux Klan group has pleaded not guilty to the 1964 killing of three civil rights activists made famous by the "Mississipi Burning" movie.

Edgar Ray Killen, a white ordained Baptist minister known as "The Preacher," was arrested late Thursday at his home in rural Neshoba county in the Deep South state.

Killen appeared in court in Philadelphia, Mississippi Friday morning handcuffed and in an orange jump suit. US media said he shouted his plea of not guilty back to the judge.

The courthouse was evacuated after the hearing because of a bomb threat but nothing was found.

http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050108151649.0qvdfhu6.xml

Interesting story. "Mississipi Burning" is a great film too, if you havent seen it.

[Turenne]

I wonder,what is the point in arresting a 71 year old for a crime he might have commited 40 years ago?

[Simba]

I wonder,what is the point in arresting a 71 year old for a crime he might have commited 40 years ago?

Well, its not like you get to hang old *******s all the time. They provide a little spice to an unsavory dish that has to be served to the mean.

[green lantern]

I wonder,what is the point in arresting a 71 year old for a crime he might have commited 40 years ago? the point is 3 people died, and he is now the suspect. there is no statute of limitations on murder.

[historyteach]

Agreed!!!
Three young men died because they chose to resist Jim Crow laws; because they sought the vote for people of ALL color; because they peacefully fought injustice.
Three young men died for the rights of us all.
That's why this "minister" is on trial.
He won't hang....but, if guilty....I hope he pays!
"Justice delayed is justice denied." ML King Jr.
It's time to stop delaying this justice. It's time to stop denying it.
Shalom!

[spork]

I wonder,what is the point in arresting a 71 year old for a crime he might have commited 40 years ago?

He killed 3 people, a killing that was motivated by racism and hatred. Are you suggesting we just forget about it?

[Turenne]

He killed 3 people, a killing that was motivated by racism and hatred. Are you suggesting we just forget about it?

the point is 3 people died, and he is now the suspect. there is no statute of limitations on murder.

I'm suggesting that this arrest is currently pointless.He is 71.How much hard time do you think he will do?What knid of justice can be meted out on him at his age?This trial will waste money and will only help to bring up old wounds in Mississippi.

BTW,he hasn't actually been found guilty yet...

[USViking]

I'm suggesting that this arrest is currently pointless.He is 71.How much hard time do you think he will do?What knid of justice can be meted out on him at his age?This trial will waste money and will only help to bring up old wounds in Mississippi.
The point is all murders should be punished
if apprehended, and no murderer should be
able to live in peace with the knowledge
his crime will not be punished if enough
time lapses after its commission.

And I would not worry too much about
the "old wounds" of Mississippi- regardless
of what the media and the academics
would have one think, the US mends
its wounds just fine, thank you.




BTW,he hasn't actually been found guilty yet...
Let the jury decide.

[Turenne]

The point is all murders should be punished
if apprehended, and no murderer should be
able to live in peace with the knowledge
his crime will not be punished if enough
time lapses after its commission.

Firstly,you speak as if this man has been found quilty.He hasn't,despite what Mississippi Burning might tell you.Secondly,your twisted my words.I'm not saying murderers should not be arrested because a certaint amount of time has elapsed,I am saying that arresting a 71 year old now is completely pointless.If he is found guilty,how much time do you think he will do?What will his punishment be?

[USViking]

Firstly,you speak as if this man has been found quilty.
No I am not.

I said "Let the jury decide"- remember?

What I said applies to whoever the guilty
person may be.




He hasn't,despite what Mississippi Burning might tell you.
Some movie, right?- I didn't see it.




Secondly,your twisted my words.I'm not saying murderers should not be arrested because a certaint amount of time has elapsed,I am saying that arresting a 71 year old now is completely pointless.
This is a case of your misunderstanding
your own words, not me twisting them.
If it is not "now" pointless, then I may
assume it would at some earlier time
have had a point, so what besides the
passage of time is involved?




If he is found guilty,how much time do you think he will do?What will his punishment be?
I think Mississippi is a death penalty
state. If so, I would say his chances
of being sentenced to death are high.

He will not do better than life, that's
for sure.

[historyteach]

I have seen the movie; it doesn't tell who the murderer was. So, that statement is really meaningless. (However, the movie WAS very good and very historically accurate. I recommend it.)
And, it is NEVER pointless to hold a criminal responsible. If found guilty, he probably won't get the death penalty; he's too old. Even if the jury determines that to be his fate, he will never live long enought to experience death at the hands of his countrymen/women. Natural causes will take him first.
However, IF guilty, he SHOULD spend the rest of his miserable years locked away from society. Like any other murderer should. His freedom should be stripped away. He has lost the right to freedom when he took other's rights to life away.
That's the way this system works.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
The only reason he has been freed all this time, (assuming of course that he is guilty), is because the all white jurys, (Jim Crow laws excluded black people from serving on juries), of the sixties would NOT convict a white man for killing a black man. Jury nullification was the norm in the face of overwhelming evidence.
Oh, and the old wounds....they have NEVER been healed. This trial will be the sauve that begins the healing process for all of those who suffered at the hands of the KKK. Just as the conviction of Brian de la Beckwith, (is that right? Megar Evers murderer I'm speaking of; convicted in the 90s), served to heal those wounds.
The south will be stronger for exorcising those demons of old.
Shalom!

[Senor Herberto]

anyone who doesn't know that the KKK is a racist ba$tard organization holding this country back in the 19th century should be quarantined in alabama.

i denounce the KKK and call for their immediate dissolution.

[beg your pardon]

The KKK are a bunch of <MOD EDIT> KEEP IT CLEAN<MOD EDIT> TAKE OFF THE MASKS!