A former Ku Klux Klan member has been given a life sentence for the murder of four black girls in an infamous church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. Bobby Frank Cherry was found guilty yesterday and sentenced immediately to life in prison for his role in the attack on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church (15 September 1963). The church was a meeting place for black civil rights demonstrators.
Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins, all 14, and Denise McNair, 11, were killed by the dynamite explosion as they were preparing for a youth day service. Cherry, who denied any involvement in the deaths, was found guilty of four counts of first degree murder.
He reacted angrily to the news, and his lawyer said afterwards that an appeal was certain. One other man is serving a sentence for his part in the bombing, one man died in jail, and another suspect died before being charged.
After the sentence on Cherry was handed down, relatives of the victims expressed satisfaction and relief that justice "catches up with you". Sarah Collins Rudolph, who suffered eye injuries in the blast, said the verdict meant that her sister Addie Mae and the other girls did not die in vain.
Prosecutors said the verdict would help free Birmingham from the shame of its segregated past. The bombing, which occurred days after Birmingham's public schools were integrated, symbolized for millions at the time the extent of racial hatred and resistance to civil rights.
