Bobby Frank Cherry
Encyclopedia
Bobby Frank Cherry was an American
white supremacist and Klansman who was convicted of murder in 2002 for his role in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
in 1963. The bombing killed four young African-American girls (Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Denise McNair) and injured more than twenty other people.
. He joined the United States Marine Corps
as a youth, where he gained expertise in demolitions and working with explosives. After his time with the Marines, Cherry worked a series of low-paying jobs, including a long stint as a truck driver.
Cherry had a wife, Virginia, at the time of the bombing. He and Virginia Cherry had seven children together. Their marriage was tumultuous and at times violent. Bobby Cherry expected deference from his wife and children and used beatings to enforce his authority. Virginia Cherry died of cancer
in 1968. After her death, Bobby Cherry placed the children in the Gateway Mercy Home Orphanage
and with relatives. He eventually remarried four times, including to Jean Casey and Willadean Brogdon; Brogdon would later testify at Cherry's trial that he had bragged about his role in the church bombing.
Cherry left Birmingham in the early 1970s and moved to the suburbs of Dallas
, Texas
. He found work as a welder
and owned a carpet cleaner business in Grand Prairie
. In 1988, Cherry suffered a heart attack and moved again, this time to small-town Henderson County, Texas
with fifth wife Myrtle.
During his trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Cherry, a white man, had assaulted black minister Fred Shuttlesworth
in 1957 using a set of brass knuckles
. The minister had been working to integrate
a school in Birmingham, Alabama
. The prosecution also discussed an incident in which Cherry had allegedly pistol-whipped a black man in a restaurant after the man insulted Cherry. On the morning of the bombing, Cherry was with son Tom at the Modern Sign Company a few blocks away from the church. The two were silkscreening Confederate rebel flags. Tom Cherry later said that he could clearly hear the sound of an explosion happening nearby and knew that something bad had happened.
Cherry was able to successfully delay his trial by claiming that vascular dementia had impaired his mind and that his health would prevent him from assisting in his own defense. Blanton was convicted and Cherry was eventually found mentally competent
to stand trial. At his trial he denied his involvement in the bombing as well as his affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan
, but he was ultimately found guilty.
, a Ku Klux Klan
group, and relatives and friends testified that he "bragged" about having played a role in the bombing. Ex-wife Willadean Brogdon testified, "He said he lit the fuse."
A third man, Mitchell Burns, had been an associate of Thomas Blanton, Jr.
and Bobby Cherry at the time of the bombing and was recruited by Federal Bureau of Investigation
investigators to act as an informant
. Burns testified on the stand at Cherry's trial that Burns' involvement with the Ku Klux Klan
was more socially than politically based, something that was plausible during the era of the crime, and that the agents approached him and asked for his help. He initially declined, but was shown postmortem photos of the young girls killed by the bomb. Deeply disturbed by what he had seen, he vomited. He agreed to work with the FBI.
Burns testified that he was primarily friends with Blanton, but that Blanton was good friends with Cherry, so Cherry would sometimes join them when they went out. Burns' assistance came in the form of going to numerous honky tonks with the two men with a very large reel-to-reel tape recorder
in the car trunk
recording the group's conversations. Burns took thorough notes after these meetings, and additionally when the three met and spoke outside of his car.
The tapes were collected by the FBI during its immediate investigation. They were subsequently misplaced or archived and were rediscovered in 1997; the rediscovery of the tapes ultimately led to the prosecution of Blanton and Cherry.
The recordings primarily contained racist sentiment. Most significantly, one recording from the car raised the subject of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. In the recording, the men spoke of it with approval. Blanton began to say something that sounded as if he were about to implicate himself and Cherry by bragging, but Cherry, who was less acquainted with the informant, sharply cut him off by saying, "Now, this good ol' boy doesn't need to know about that!" and laughed. Burns also reported unrecorded references made by Blanton and Cherry to their involvement in the bombing.
Prosecutors also "showed the jury a videotape of a white mob beating local civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth
when he showed up to register his children at the all white Phillips High School." At one point, the prosecutors "froze the film as a grinning, slender white man with a bulbous nose, wavy hair and a cigarette dangling from his mouth — unmistakably a grinning young Bobby Frank Cherry — was seen slamming his fist into the minister's head after pulling what appeared to be a set of brass knuckles from his back pocket."
, but in October 2004 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
unanimously upheld his conviction. The court rejected Cherry's claim that a delay of thirty-seven years between his commission of the crime and his indictment
in 2000 had resulted in an inherently unfair trial.
During his prison sentence, Cherry repeatedly claimed to be the victim of a malicious false campaign against him and said that he was a "political prisoner" who was denied proper treatment.
He was originally taken to the Kilby Correctional Facility
in Montgomery County, Alabama
for intake. He was later moved to Holman Correctional Facility
in Escambia County, Alabama
.
On Wednesday October 13, 2004, Cherry was transferred from Holman Prison to Atmore Community Hospital in Atmore. During the same day an ambulance transported him from the Atmore hospital to a hospital in Montgomery.
Cherry died in the Kilby prison's hospital unit, on November 18, 2004 at the age of 74. He was survived by fifth wife, Myrtle Cherry, two sons Herman Cherry, Wesley Cherry, and three daughters Sue Crawford, Theresa Johnston, and Karen Sunderland
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
white supremacist and Klansman who was convicted of murder in 2002 for his role in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963. The explosion at the African-American church, which killed four girls, marked a turning point in the U.S...
in 1963. The bombing killed four young African-American girls (Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Denise McNair) and injured more than twenty other people.
Life
Bobby Frank Cherry was born on June 20, 1930 in Mineral Springs, AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. He joined the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
as a youth, where he gained expertise in demolitions and working with explosives. After his time with the Marines, Cherry worked a series of low-paying jobs, including a long stint as a truck driver.
Cherry had a wife, Virginia, at the time of the bombing. He and Virginia Cherry had seven children together. Their marriage was tumultuous and at times violent. Bobby Cherry expected deference from his wife and children and used beatings to enforce his authority. Virginia Cherry died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1968. After her death, Bobby Cherry placed the children in the Gateway Mercy Home Orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
and with relatives. He eventually remarried four times, including to Jean Casey and Willadean Brogdon; Brogdon would later testify at Cherry's trial that he had bragged about his role in the church bombing.
Cherry left Birmingham in the early 1970s and moved to the suburbs of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He found work as a welder
Welder
A welder is a tradesman who specializes in welding materials together. The materials to be joined can be metals or varieties of plastic or polymer...
and owned a carpet cleaner business in Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...
. In 1988, Cherry suffered a heart attack and moved again, this time to small-town Henderson County, Texas
Henderson County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 73,277 people, 28,804 households, and 20,969 families residing in the county. The population density was 84 people per square mile . There were 35,935 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...
with fifth wife Myrtle.
During his trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Cherry, a white man, had assaulted black minister Fred Shuttlesworth
Fred Shuttlesworth
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, born Freddie Lee Robinson, was a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama...
in 1957 using a set of brass knuckles
Brass knuckles
Brass knuckles, also sometimes called knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, or knuckledusters, are weapons used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles are pieces of metal, usually steel despite their name, shaped to fit around the knuckles...
. The minister had been working to integrate
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
a school in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. The prosecution also discussed an incident in which Cherry had allegedly pistol-whipped a black man in a restaurant after the man insulted Cherry. On the morning of the bombing, Cherry was with son Tom at the Modern Sign Company a few blocks away from the church. The two were silkscreening Confederate rebel flags. Tom Cherry later said that he could clearly hear the sound of an explosion happening nearby and knew that something bad had happened.
Murder trial
Cherry was originally supposed to be tried at the same time as (though not jointly with) fellow defendant Thomas Blanton, Jr.Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr.
Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. was convicted in 2001 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The bombing killed four young African-American girls . Blanton was twenty-five years old at the time of the bombing.He is housed at St...
Cherry was able to successfully delay his trial by claiming that vascular dementia had impaired his mind and that his health would prevent him from assisting in his own defense. Blanton was convicted and Cherry was eventually found mentally competent
Competence (law)
In American law, competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings. Defendants that do not possess sufficient "competence" are usually excluded from criminal prosecution, while witnesses found not to possess requisite competence cannot testify...
to stand trial. At his trial he denied his involvement in the bombing as well as his affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, but he was ultimately found guilty.
Testimony and recordings
Cherry's son Thomas Frank Cherry testified that Bobby Cherry was a member of the United Klans of AmericaUnited Klans of America
United Klans of America Inc. was one of the largest Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States. Led by Robert Shelton, the UKA peaked in popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s, and was the most violent Klan organization of its time. Its headquarters were the Anglo-Saxon Club outside...
, a Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
group, and relatives and friends testified that he "bragged" about having played a role in the bombing. Ex-wife Willadean Brogdon testified, "He said he lit the fuse."
A third man, Mitchell Burns, had been an associate of Thomas Blanton, Jr.
Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr.
Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. was convicted in 2001 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The bombing killed four young African-American girls . Blanton was twenty-five years old at the time of the bombing.He is housed at St...
and Bobby Cherry at the time of the bombing and was recruited by Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
investigators to act as an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
. Burns testified on the stand at Cherry's trial that Burns' involvement with the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
was more socially than politically based, something that was plausible during the era of the crime, and that the agents approached him and asked for his help. He initially declined, but was shown postmortem photos of the young girls killed by the bomb. Deeply disturbed by what he had seen, he vomited. He agreed to work with the FBI.
Burns testified that he was primarily friends with Blanton, but that Blanton was good friends with Cherry, so Cherry would sometimes join them when they went out. Burns' assistance came in the form of going to numerous honky tonks with the two men with a very large reel-to-reel tape recorder
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
in the car trunk
Trunk (automobile)
The trunk or boot of an automobile or car is the vehicle's main storage, luggage, or cargo compartment. Trunk is used in North American English and Jamaican English; boot is used elsewhere in the English speaking world. Trunk is also primarily used in many non-English speaking regions, such as...
recording the group's conversations. Burns took thorough notes after these meetings, and additionally when the three met and spoke outside of his car.
The tapes were collected by the FBI during its immediate investigation. They were subsequently misplaced or archived and were rediscovered in 1997; the rediscovery of the tapes ultimately led to the prosecution of Blanton and Cherry.
The recordings primarily contained racist sentiment. Most significantly, one recording from the car raised the subject of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. In the recording, the men spoke of it with approval. Blanton began to say something that sounded as if he were about to implicate himself and Cherry by bragging, but Cherry, who was less acquainted with the informant, sharply cut him off by saying, "Now, this good ol' boy doesn't need to know about that!" and laughed. Burns also reported unrecorded references made by Blanton and Cherry to their involvement in the bombing.
Video
Also presented at Bobby Cherry's trial were videos showing explosives in the same quantity as had been used in the bombing being used to destroy a car in a field. The violent force of the explosion evident in the video was designed to counter the defense's suggestion that, though they claimed Cherry was not involved, the purpose of the bomb may have been to scare the church congregants, not to kill or injure them.Prosecutors also "showed the jury a videotape of a white mob beating local civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth
Fred Shuttlesworth
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, born Freddie Lee Robinson, was a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama...
when he showed up to register his children at the all white Phillips High School." At one point, the prosecutors "froze the film as a grinning, slender white man with a bulbous nose, wavy hair and a cigarette dangling from his mouth — unmistakably a grinning young Bobby Frank Cherry — was seen slamming his fist into the minister's head after pulling what appeared to be a set of brass knuckles from his back pocket."
Conviction
During the trial, Cherry smiled and looked amused. He could be seen joking with his lawyers and several supporters, not appearing to believe that the legal system which had protected him up to that point would ultimately send him to jail. He was convicted on four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Cherry attempted to appealAppeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, but in October 2004 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
Courts of Alabama
Courts of Alabama include:State courts of Alabama*Alabama Supreme Court**Alabama Court of Civil Appeals**Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals***Alabama Circuit Courts ****Alabama District Courts...
unanimously upheld his conviction. The court rejected Cherry's claim that a delay of thirty-seven years between his commission of the crime and his indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
in 2000 had resulted in an inherently unfair trial.
During his prison sentence, Cherry repeatedly claimed to be the victim of a malicious false campaign against him and said that he was a "political prisoner" who was denied proper treatment.
He was originally taken to the Kilby Correctional Facility
Kilby Correctional Facility
Kilby Correctional Facility is a Alabama Department of Corrections prison for the state of Alabama, located in Mt. Meigs, unincorporated Montgomery County, Alabama, near Montgomery. Its current capacity inmates is 1,250. Kilby serves as receiving and processing center for all male Alabama state...
in Montgomery County, Alabama
Montgomery County, Alabama
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the most populous county in the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area; its population in 2010 was 229,363 .- History :...
for intake. He was later moved to Holman Correctional Facility
Holman Correctional Facility
Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in unincorporated southwestern Escambia County, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21, north of Atmore....
in Escambia County, Alabama
Escambia County, Alabama
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*62.1% White*31.9% Black*4.4% Native American*0.2% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.5% Two or more races*1.9% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
.
On Wednesday October 13, 2004, Cherry was transferred from Holman Prison to Atmore Community Hospital in Atmore. During the same day an ambulance transported him from the Atmore hospital to a hospital in Montgomery.
Cherry died in the Kilby prison's hospital unit, on November 18, 2004 at the age of 74. He was survived by fifth wife, Myrtle Cherry, two sons Herman Cherry, Wesley Cherry, and three daughters Sue Crawford, Theresa Johnston, and Karen Sunderland
See also
- Robert Edward ChamblissRobert Edward ChamblissRobert Edward Chambliss , also known as Dynamite Bob, was convicted in 1977 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963...
- Herman Frank CashHerman Frank CashHerman Frank Cash was suspected to have been a fourth conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing of 1963.-Life:...
- African-American history
- African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)
- Birmingham campaignBirmingham campaignThe Birmingham campaign was a strategic movement organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the unequal treatment that black Americans endured in Birmingham, Alabama...
- Mass racial violence in the United StatesMass racial violence in the United StatesMass racial violence, also called race riots can include such disparate events as:* attacks on Irish Catholics, the Chinese and other immigrants in the 19th century....
External links
- Bobby Frank Cherry's website (Website closed before 5/10)