Ex-Alabama State Trooper Gets Six Months for Killing Civil Rights Activist Jimmie Lee Jackson

By Edrea Davis- Ex-Alabama State Trooper James Fowler, 76, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor – second-degree manslaughter – in the 1965 shooting death of civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. Fowler was sentenced to six months in the Geneva County Jail and must turn himself in by Dec. 1. Jackson’s murder led to the Selma-Montgomery March and the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act.

According to WSFA News, Fowler apologized to the family stating “”I was coming over here to save lives,” Fowler told the family. “I didn’t mean to take lives and wish I could re-do it.”

The WSFA story said the Perry County District Attorney, Michael Jackson said the plea brings closure.

All I can say is that six months is some kind of “closure” for Jimmie Lee Jackson & his family. As for the apology, at 76 I’m sure he has convinced himself that he was there to save lives but I would guess that in 1965 he was there to protect White folks and stop Black folks by any means necessary.

The following story shows a monument erected by sclc/WOMEN in memory of Jimmie Lee Jackson. The monument is a stop on the organization’s annual EVELYN GIBSON LOWERY HERITAGE TOUR.