About 500 March In Support Of Prosecution Of 1964 Slayings

About 500 people, including members of the NAACP, marched in downtown Jackson Wednesday. The march was to show support for the state prosecution of the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers in Mississippi and to seek an indictment for a former Klansman. The group included Jackson State University and Tougaloo College students and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Marchers sang "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" in a planned event originally scheduled to coincide with a state fair booth by alleged white supremacist Richard Barrett. The booth was canceled, but the march went on. The group said it hopes to persuade Attorney General Jim Hood to prosecute the slayings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Neshoba County. The group also circulated a petition seeking the indictment of Edgar Ray Killen, 79, who was among 18 men tried in 1967 on federal conspiracy charges. Killen wasn't convicted. [more ] and [more ]

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