Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.
Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 20, 1930 |
| Known for | Participant in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Edwin "Pops" Blanton, Sr. |
| Motive | White supremacy |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal charge | Murder |
| Penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Partner(s) | |
Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. (born June 20, 1930) was convicted in 2001 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963.[1] The bombing killed four young African-American girls (Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Denise McNair). Blanton was thirty-three years old at the time of the bombing.
Early life
Blanton is the son of Thomas Edwin "Pops" Blanton, Sr., who was a notorious racist in the Birmingham, Alabama area.[2] Blanton was born on the same day as Bobby Frank Cherry, one of his co-conspirators.
Trial and imprisonment
Blanton was convicted of murder in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison, with the eventual possibility of parole.
He is housed at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama.[3]
Blanton went before the parole board on August 3, 2016. Parole was denied.[4]
References
- ^
Sack, Kevin (2 May 2001). "Ex-Klansman Is Found Guilty in '63 Bombing". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Clary, Mike (14 April 2001). "Birmingham's Painful Past Reopened". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr". Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved 15 Sep 2013.
- ^ Faulk, Kent (July 14, 2016). "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bomber up for parole next month". The Birmingham News. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
Further reading
- Sikora, Frank (2005). Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817352684.
See also
- Bobby Frank Cherry
- Robert Edward Chambliss
- Herman Frank Cash
- African-American history
- African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968)
- Birmingham campaign
- Mass racial violence in the United States
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- 1930 births
- Living people
- 1963 murders in the United States
- Ku Klux Klan members
- American people convicted of murder
- American murderers of children
- American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
- People convicted of murder by Alabama
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Alabama
- People associated with the history of African-American civil rights
- History of Birmingham, Alabama
- American mass murderers
- People from Springville, Alabama
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