Official White House photo by Pete Souza.
Two of my favorite people – best wishes and happy 49th birthday to President Obama (apparently a bit of a micromanager).
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On a more somber note, this is also the anniversary of the discovery of the bodies of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney in an earthen dam on a farm near Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1964.
They had been missing since June 21. LBJ prodded Hoover until the FBI finally started a search – they didn’t find the three civil rights workers, but they did find the bodies of seven African-American males, all apparent murder victims.
Finally, an informant tipped them off about the dam. Eventually, 18 men went on trial for violating – by murder – the civil rights of the three. Seven were convicted, none served more than six years. In 2005, one man – Edgar Ray Killen – was convicted of three counts of murder. He is serving three consecutive twenty-year terms. Now 85 years old, Killen will be eligible for parole in 2033.
Andrew Goodman
Michael Schwerner
James Chaney
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