Jimmie Lee Jackson

DEATH

VERDICT

LINKS

Jimmie Lee Jackson was born on December 1938 in Marion, Alabama. Upon graduating from high school his plans were to move to the North for a better life, but those dreams were shattered when his father died. While running the farm Jimmie Lee wanted to see a real change in his hometown. He began participating in demonstrations to protest the unfair treatments of Negroes.

Death

On February 18, 1965, about 9:30 pm Jimmie Lee, his grandfather, Cager Lee, and his mother, Viola Jackson were participating in a nighttime demonstration in Marion which was a very dangerous thing to do, but they were only allowed to march at night because it wouldn't disturb the businesses.
The streets were completely surrounded by police and state troopers.
When the police began to attack the marchers, all of the streetlights went out. His grandfather who was 82 years old was badly beaten and was bleeding. Jimmie Lee rushed him over to a cafe, then he tried to leave the cafe to take his grandfather to the hospital. The state troopers pushed him back inside the cafe and began knocking out all of the lights and hitting those inside the cafe.
When Jimmie Lee saw the trooper hit his mother, he attacked the trooper and was hit in the face by another officer and pushed against a cigarette machine. Then another officer pulled out his pistol and shot him in the stomach.
As he escaped from the cafe the troopers chased him up the street beating him until he dropped.
It was two hours later before Jimmie Lee was taken to the hospital in Selma, because he was arrested and charged with assault and battery.
Seven days later, on February 25, 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson died from an infection caused by the shooting.
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