‘Mississippi Burning’ civil rights murder case closes after 52 years
The investigation into the infamous murder of three young activists which became known as the “Mississippi Burning” civil rights case has finally closed after 52 years, the US state’s attorney general said on Monday.
The three young men – two Jewish and one black – were executed in June 1964 in the midst of the “Freedom Summer” voter registration project. They had ventured south from New York to register African American voters.
Investigators have done everything possible under the law to find those responsible and hold them accountable
The brutal killings of James Chaney, 21, Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner, 24, rocked the nation and went on to inspire the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning in 1988.
“I am convinced that during the last 52 years, investigators have done everything possible under the law to find those responsible and hold them accountable,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.
“There is no likelihood of any additional convictions.”
At the time of the killings, the US Justice Department – aware it had no chance of securing murder convictions faced with segregationist state authorities and all-white juries – chose to prosecute the case under civil rights law.