- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of interviews with attorneys associated with the Lemuel Penn murder, Athens, Georgia, 1964 August 7
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Date of Original:
- 1964-08-07
- Subject:
- Courthouses--Georgia--Athens
Murder--Georgia--Madison County
Criminal defense lawyers--Georgia--Athens
Public prosecutors--Georgia
Trials (Murder)--Georgia
Trials (Conspiracy)--Georgia
Georgia--Race relations--History--20th century
Athens (Ga.)--Race relations--History--20th century
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )--Georgia--Athens
Penn, Lemuel--Death and burial
Lackey, James S.--Trials, litigation, etc.
Sims, Joseph Howard--Trials, litigation, etc.
Guest, Herbert--Trials, litigation, etc.
Myers, Cecil William--Trials, litigation, etc.
Johnson, Clete D.
Buford, Floyd M.
Hudson, James, 1929-2010
Hawkins, Giriard - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Clarke County, Athens, 33.96095, -83.37794
United States, Georgia, Madison County, 34.12778, -83.20904 - Medium:
- news
unedited footage - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of interviews with attorneys associated with the Lemuel Penn murder, Athens, Georgia, 1964 August 7. The first clip opens with a head and shoulder shot of Madison County Solicitor General (prosecutor) Clete D. Johnson being interviewed by an unidentified reporter. He begins reading a joint statement from himself and United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Floyd M. Buford regarding their meeting regarding the Penn case. The next clip shows the same reporter interviewing James Hudson, who is representing Joseph Howard Sims, Cecil William Myers, and Herbert Guest, accused co-conspirators in the Penn murder. He discusses his motion to have the press be outside the courtroom. The third clip returns to Mr. Johnson reading the formal statement. This clip pans out to include Mr. Buford and the reporter. Mr. Buford confirms that the statement stands "for the time being." All the men walk away and the camera continues to roll for several seconds. The fourth clip returns to the interview with Mr. Hudson who indicates that he had tried to have the charges dismissed on the grounds that the United States court did not have jurisdiction. The motion was overruled. He then states he conferred with Mr. Vane (?) Hawkins who also represents Mr. Sims. The reporter asks if the $25,000 bond set by United States Commissioner Giriard Hawkins is too high. Mr. Hudson responds that it is not too high for a murder charge, but is too high for a civil rights violation. The reporter asks about the legal status of James S. Lackey, who at that time was without legal representation. Hudson responds that he only apprised Mr. Lackey of his rights at the arraignment, but that he did not represent him. He continues regarding the issue that the men will be tried by the state first if they are indicted by the grand jury, but that there does not seem to be sufficient evidence to convict based on the alleged confession only. These interviews probably were filmed outside the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office building in Athens.Lemuel Penn, an African American, was returning to Washington D.C. with two other African American officers, Major Howard E. Brown and Lt. Col. John D. Howard, from their two weeks of summer training at Fort Benning, Ga. Early in the morning of July 10, the three men stopped outside the entrance to the University of Georgia to change drivers at which time Penn took the wheel. At some time after they left Athens, their car was followed by another vehicle containing members of the Athens area Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. James S. Lackey was driving; Joseph Howard Sims was in the front passenger seat, with Cecil William Myers in the back. Both Sims and Myers carried sawed-off shot guns. According to Lackey's original statements to the FBI, as they approached the bridge over the Broad River near Colbert in Madison County, he pulled along side the vehicle being driven by Penn. Sims and Myers opened fire on the car killing Penn instantly. Brown and Howard were able to control the car and stop it. They turned around to return to Athens, but lost control in the morning fog and ran into a ditch. They were finally able to flag down a driver who went to Colbert to notify the police. While the local police in Colbert were unwilling to believe the story given by the two Reservists, Lt. Colonel Howard was finally allowed to call the provost marshal at Ft. Benning. Later that morning a member of the Army's Criminal Investigation Division arrived from Ft. Gordon to place Howard and Brown under their protection. On the morning of July 11, FBI Special Agents Jack B. Simpson and William J. Watry from Atlanta, Ga., and Clarence Brom and Arthur S. Hamilton from Newark, N.J. arrived in Athens to begin their investigation. At the time of these interviews, Mr. Lackey had made statements to agents Simpson and Brom regarding the shooting. The state of Georgia would try the men for murder, while the federal charges would be about a conspiracy to "threaten, injure, oppress, intimidate, and kill Negroes" (New York Times).
Supporting information was taken from the following sources: Huie, William Bradford. "Murder: The Klan on Trial." Saturday Evening Post 238.12 (1965): 86-89. Hatfield, Edward A. "Lemuel Penn Murder." New Georgia Encyclopedi Web 29 March 2013. Shipp, Bill. Murder at Broad River Bridge: The Slaying of Lemuel Penn by Members of the Ku Klux Klan. Atlanta, Ga.: Peachtree P, c1981. "Georgia Moves to Prosecute 4 As Slayers of Negro Educator." New York Times. 8 Aug. 1964: 7. Web 4 April 2013.
Title supplied by cataloger. - External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn47103
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn47103
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn47103/presentation/manifest.json
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn47103, Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of interviews with attorneys associated with the Lemuel Penn murder, Athens, Georgia, 1964 August 7, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1196, 37:28/43:10, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 6 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
