Mack Charles Parker

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Mack Charles Parker (1936 – April 24, 1959) was a victim of lynching in the United States.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Mack Charles Parker, an African American, was accused of raping a white woman. When he was arrested, a Mississippi state trooper offered the woman's husband a pistol to shoot Parker. Three days before Parker was to stand trial, he was dragged from his jail cell, beaten and shot. His body was found in the Pearl River 10 days later. The FBI investigated and even obtained confessions from some of the eight white suspects. However, the county prosecutor refused to present evidence to a state grand jury and a federal grand jury refused to indict.

[edit] The Case

In Mississippi, U.S. on February 24, 1959, Mack Parker was arrested for the raping and kidnapping of a pregnant white woman. This woman was identified as Mrs. June Walters of Petal, Mississippi.

Mack Parker was held at the Hinds County Jail where he endured several polygraph tests before being moved to the Pearl River County Jail in Poplarville, Mississippi, on April 13. He never received a fair trial to defend himself against the charges of rape and kidnapping, which all American citizens deserve as a civil right.

At some time between 11:30pm April 24 and 12:15am April 25, eight to ten men, some hooded, some masked, entered the jail. No jailers were present. Using a key obtained from the office of Hamond Slade, the City Marshall, three men entered and beat him with clubs and then tied Parker up. Parker attempted to escape several times but never succeeded. A garbage can in the jail's "Negro bull pen" contained a broken broom handle on which bloodstains were found. Shouting for help, Parker was able to gain the attention of a nearby hospital as he was being dragged outside, also leaving behind several bloody hand prints and pools of blood on the jail house steps. Parker was bleeding profusely as he was taken from the jail and placed in one of several vehicles waiting outside[1]

Mack Parker’s body was found on May 4 bound in chains, floating along the Pearl River[2], ten days after he was criminally abducted from his cell and murdered. The FBI reported his body was on the Mississippi side of the Pearl River, about 2.5 miles south of Mississippi Highway 26. Other accounts say the Louisiana side.[3] The autopsy concluded his death was due to a penetrating wound to the heart. Parker was shot two times from a distance of approximately six inches, the first hitting his heart which subsequently caused his death within mere seconds.

The trial for his murder was not made a priority and was delayed for months by Mississippi Governor James P. Coleman, who had been elected on a promise to uphold segregation. The FBI investigated and even obtained confessions from some of the eight white suspects. However, the county prosecutor refused to present evidence to a state grand jury and a federal grand jury refused to indict. Though members of the mob came forward, Judge Sebe Dale, an active member of the White Citizens' Council, encouraged the jury not to convict.

[edit] Status

Closed. Never re-examined. Several of those identified in FBI documents as being part of the lynch mob are still alive.[citation needed]

Most of the suspects accused of taking part in the lynching are now deceased.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Description of the Crime Scene", The Abduction of Mack Charles Parker, Freedom of Information Act Documents, pp. 19-20. (on line).
  2. ^ A gruesome photo, "April, 1959", Civil Rights Documentation Project, University of Southern Mississippi
  3. ^ Willie L. Robinson, "The Lynching of Mack Charles Parker"