16th Street Baptist Church bombing

===Thomas Edwin Blanton===
Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. was brought to trial in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett on April 24, 2001.<ref name="wsws.org May 5, 2001"/> Blanton pleaded not guilty to the charges and chose not to testify on his behalf throughout the trial.

In his [[opening statement]] to the jurors, defense attorney John Robbins acknowledged his client's affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan and his views on racial segregation. But, he warned the jury: "Just because you don't like him, that doesn't make him responsible for the bombing."<ref name="Lakeland Ledger Apr. 25, 2001"/>

The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses to testify in their case against Blanton, including relatives of the victims, John Cross, the former pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church; an FBI agent named William Fleming, and Mitchell Burns, a former Klansman who had become a paid FBI informant. Burns had secretly recorded several conversations with Blanton in which the latter (Blanton) had gloated when talking about the bombing, and had boasted the police would not catch him when he bombed another church.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=L1wpAAAAIBAJ&pg=5456,7112358 |work=[[The Tuscaloosa News]] |date=November 23, 2002 |title=Former Klansman who was Key Witness at Bombing Trial Dies |agency=Associated Press |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref>

The most crucial piece of evidence presented at Blanton's trial was an audio recording secretly taped by the FBI in June 1964, in which Blanton was recorded discussing his involvement in the bombing with his wife, who can be heard accusing her husband of conducting an affair with a woman named Waylen Vaughn two nights before the bombing. Although sections of the recording—presented in evidence on April 27—are unintelligible, Blanton can twice be heard mentioning the phrase "plan a bomb" or "plan the bomb". Most crucially, Blanton can also be heard saying that he was not with Miss Vaughn but, two nights before the bombing, was at a meeting with other Klansmen on a bridge above the [[Cahaba River]].<ref name="Star-News Apr. 28, 2001">{{cite news |title=Secret Tape Played at Trial |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SQlPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6533,3381307 |work=[[Star-News]] |date=April 28, 2001 |first=Jay |last=Reeves |agency=Associated Press |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref> He said: "You've got to have a meeting to plan a bomb."<ref name="Star-News Apr. 28, 2001"/>

In addition to calling attention to flaws in the prosecution's case, the defense exposed inconsistencies in the memories of some prosecution witnesses who had testified. Blanton's attorneys criticized the validity and quality of the 16 tape recordings introduced as evidence,<ref>{{cite news |title=Church Bombing Verdict Hinges on how Jurors Understand Tapes |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l7oeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6433,11863857 |first=Bob |last=Johnson |work=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]] |date=April 29, 2001 |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref> arguing that the prosecution had edited and spliced the sections of the audio recording that were secretly obtained within Blanton's kitchen, reducing the entirety of the tape by 26 minutes. He said that the sections introduced as evidence were of poor audio quality, resulting in the prosecution presenting text transcripts of questionable accuracy to the jury. About the recordings made as Blanton conversed with Burns, Robbins emphasized that Burns had earlier testified that Blanton had never expressly said that he had made or planted the bomb.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jury Hears More Old Tapes in Church Bombing Trial |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-YsvAAAAIBAJ&pg=4971,8096242 |work=[[Southeast Missourian]] |date=April 29, 2001 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |agency=[[Associated Press]] }}</ref> The defense  portrayed the audiotapes introduced into evidence as the statements of "two [[redneck]]s driving around, drinking" and making false, ego-inflating claims to one another.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/LAW/05/01/church.bombing.05/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |date=May 1, 2001 |title=Birmingham church bomber guilty, gets four life terms |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref>

The trial lasted for one week. Seven witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution, and two for the defense. One of the defense witnesses was a retired chef named Eddie Mauldin, who was called to testify to [[Discrediting tactic|discredit]] prosecution witnesses' statements that they had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church before the bombing. Mauldin testified on April 30 that he had observed two men in a [[Rambler (automobile)|Rambler]] station wagon adorned with a Confederate flag repeatedly drive past the church immediately before the blast, and that, seconds after the bomb had exploded, the car had "burned rubber" as it drove away. (Thomas Blanton had owned a Chevrolet in 1963;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/01/us/testimony-concludes-in-trial-on-birmingham-church-blast.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 1, 2001 |title=Testimony Concludes in Trial On Birmingham Church Blast |access-date=May 28, 2019 |agency=Associated Press }}</ref> neither Chambliss, Cash nor Cherry had owned such a vehicle.)

Both counsels delivered their closing arguments before the jury on May 1. In his closing argument, prosecuting attorney and future U.S. Senator [[Doug Jones (politician)|Doug Jones]] said that although the trial was conducted 38 years after the bombing, it was no less important, adding: "It's never too late for the truth to be told ... It's never too late for a man to be held accountable for his crimes." Jones reviewed Blanton's extensive history with the Ku Klux Klan, before referring to the audio recordings presented earlier in the trial. Jones repeated the most damning statements Blanton had made in these recordings, before pointing at Blanton and stating: "That is a confession out of this man's mouth."<ref>''Crimes and Trials of the Century'' {{ISBN|978-0-313-34110-6}} p. 280</ref>

Defense attorney John Robbins reminded the jury in his closing argument that his client was an admitted segregationist and a "loudmouth", but that was all that could be proven. He said this past was not the evidence upon which they should return their verdicts. Stressing that Blanton should not be judged for his beliefs, Robbins again vehemently criticized the validity and poor quality of the audio recordings presented, and the selectivity of the sections which had been introduced into evidence. Robbins also attempted to show that the testimony of FBI agent William Fleming, who had earlier testified as to a government witness claiming he had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church shortly before the bombing, could have been mistaken.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pm4qAAAAIBAJ&pg=3211,8452 |title=Testimony Wraps up in Bombing Trial |work=[[The Dispatch (Lexington)|The Dispatch]]|agency=Associated Press |date=May 1, 2001 |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref>

The jury deliberated for two and a half hours before returning with a verdict finding Thomas Edwin Blanton guilty of four counts of first-degree murder.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Klansman Convicted in 1963 Church Bombing |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ros1AAAAIBAJ&pg=1516,107734 |work=[[Argus-Press|The Argus-Press]] |date=May 2, 2001 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |agency=Associated Press |first=Bob |last=Johnson }}</ref> When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentence was imposed, Blanton said: "I guess the Lord will settle it on [[Last Judgment|Judgment Day]]."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1328858/Klansman-given-life-for-1963-killings.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1328858/Klansman-given-life-for-1963-killings.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Klansman given life for 1963 killings |first=Philip Delves |last=Broughton |date=2 May 2001 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Blanton was sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.alabamacivilrights.ua.edu/bham/cherry.html |website=alabamacivilrights.ua.edu |title=Birmingham: Bobby Frank Cherry |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Former Klansman faces prison in 1963 Killings |newspaper=[[The Vindicator (Ohio newspaper)|The Vindicator]] |date=May 2, 2001 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bQtJAAAAIBAJ&pg=6300%2C399406 |access-date=April 18, 2011}}</ref> He was incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in [[Springville, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doc.state.al.us/InmateSearch |title=Blanton, Thomas Edwin |work=[[Alabama Department of Corrections]] }}</ref> Blanton was confined in a one-man cell under tight security. He seldom spoke of his involvement in the bombing, shunned social activity and rarely received visitors.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.apnews.com/f9ba07ddd38645b2951a0be9843abf41 |work=[[Associated Press]] |first=Jay |last=Reeves |date=September 10, 2013 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |title=1 Klansman survives Ala church bombing cases }}</ref>

His first parole hearing was held on August 3, 2016. Relatives of the slain girls, prosecutor Doug Jones, Alabama Chief Deputy Attorney General [[Alice Martin]], and Jefferson County district attorney Brandon Falls each spoke at the hearing to oppose Blanton's parole. Martin said: "The cold-blooded callousness of this hate crime has not diminished by the passage of time." The Board of Pardons and Paroles debated for less than 90 seconds before denying parole to Blanton.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/07/sixteenth_street_baptist_churc.html |title=Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bomber up for parole next month |first=Kent |last=Faulk |date=July 14, 2016 |work=[[The Birmingham News]] |access-date=July 16, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/08/alabama_board_considering_paro.html |title=16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton denied parole |first=Kent |last=Faulk |date=August 3, 2016 |work=[[The Birmingham News]] |access-date=August 6, 2016 }}</ref>

Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Blanton, Who Bombed a Birmingham Church, Dies at 82|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/thomas-blanton-dead.html|last=Genzlinger|first=Neil|work=The New York Times|date=June 26, 2020|access-date=June 27, 2020}}</ref>