Former Alabama State Trooper Convicted in Civil Rights Killing Has Died
[gtxvideo vid=”T3184iAl” playlist=”” pid=”XiOflQdH” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/T3184iAl.jpg” vtitle=”james fowler death”]
From the West Alabama Newsroom– The former state trooper who was convicted of killing a civil rights marcher – whose death helped to spark the voting rights movement, has died.
James Bonard Fowler spent six months in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2010 for the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson.
Fowler shot Jackson during a civil rights protest in Marion back in 1965.
Jackson’s death is said to have ignited the Selma Voting Rights Movement — and sparked the idea for a Selma to Montgomery march.
“He has become a mere footnote, Mr. Fowler has — to all of those events but you can’t dismiss the fact that his actions did play a role,” said Rev. Leodis Strong.
Perry County District Attorney Michael Jackson prosecuted Fowler in 2010.
“Unfortunately the Voting Rights Movement needed people like James Bonard Fowler and Bull Connor, George Wallace, people like that because it galvanized the movement,” said Jackson.
The cause of Fowler’s death is not immediately known. He was 81.
