James Bonard Fowler

Infobox police officer
name = James B. Fowler


caption =
born = birth date and age|1933|9|10
died =
badgenumber =
placeofbirth = Alabama, USA
placeofdeath =
nickname =
department = Alabama State Police
service = United States
serviceyears = 1954 - 1980
rank = Sworn in as an officer - 1954
Corporal - 1965
awards =
relations =
laterwork = Charged with murder

James Bonard Fowler (born 10 September 1933) became an icon in the conflict that led to the Selma to Montgomery marches in the American Civil Rights Movement as a corporal in the Alabama State Police.

hooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson

On the night of 18 February 1965, around 500 people left Zion United Methodist Church in Marion, Alabama and attempted to peacefully walk to the City Jail about a half a block away where a young Civil Rights worker was being held. The march was to protest his arrest and sing hymns. They were met by a crowd of Marion City police officers, sheriff’s deputies and Alabama State Troopers. In the standoff, streetlights were abruptly turned off (some sources say that they were shot out by the policecite book
last = Davis
first = Townsend
coauthors =
title = Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement
publisher = W. W. Norton & Company
date = 1998
location = New York
pages = 121,122
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=S7IYlI9KopkC
doi =
id =
isbn = 0393045927 ] ) and the police began to beat the protestors.Citation
last = Fleming
first = John
title = The Death of Jimmy Lee Jackson
newspaper = Anniston Star
pages =
year =
date = 6 March 2005
url =http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2005/as-insight-0306-jflemingcol-5c09o1640.htm
accessdate = 2008-01-21 ] Two United Press International photographers were beaten by the police and their cameras were smashed and NBC News correspondent Richard Valeriani was beaten so badly that he was hospitalized.

26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson, his mother, Viola Jackson and his 82-year-old grandfather, Cager Lee and others ran in to Mack’s Café pursued by about 10 Alabama State Troopers. Police clubbed Cager Lee to the floor and his daughter, Viola rushed to his aid. Jimmie Jackson went to his mother's aid and was shot twice in the abdomen by Fowler. He died on 26 February 1965.

Fowler claims that he acted in self-defense after Jackson grabbed his gun from its holster.Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Nation in Brief: Indictment Brought in Civil-Rights-Era Death
newspaper = Washington Post
pages = A08
year = 2007
date = 10 May 2007
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050902488.html
accessdate = 2008-01-21 ]

Aftermath

This incident provided the primary catalyst for the first Selma to Montgomery march that occurred a few days later on “Bloody Sunday”, 7 March 1965.

A grand jury declined to indict Fowler in September 1965, identifying him only by his surname (“Fowler”).

Interviewed some time after the incident, Fowler stated: Quotation|"I don’t remember how many times I pulled the trigger, but I think I just pulled it once, but I might have pulled it three times. I don’t remember. I didn’t know his name at the time, but his name was Jimmy Lee Jackson. He weren’t dead. He didn’t die that night. But I heard about a month later that he died.”

After the shooting, Fowler returned to his duties as a State Trooper. He was transferred to Birmingham, Alabama, and promoted. He states that he never got so much as a letter of reprimand.

Indictment

On 10 May 2007, 42 years after the crime, Fowler was charged with first degree and second degree murder for the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson and surrendered to authorities. Fowler's trial is set for the week of Oct 20, 2008. [Citation
last = Phillip
first = Rawls
title = Former Ala. trooper to face trial in 1965 shooting
place =
publisher = Associated Press
year = 2008
date = 10-07-2008
url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVPvFEk8J0d9MFcH5FQHblbmeF5wD91R3BG80]

References