| WHY SELMA | DEATH | VERDICT | LINKS |
Jonathan Daniels who was
a seminary student born in Keene, New Hampshire
in 1939 came to Selma, Alabama when Dr. King issued a nationwide call
for ministers of all faiths to come to Selma to help march to Montgomery,
Alabama.
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Once the news spreaded
on the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jonathan,
while sitting in evening prayer at the chapel it came to him "He
hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble
and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things." He knew
then that he must go to Selma to join Dr. King.
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On Saturday, August 14,
1965 Jonathan, a couple of ministers, and a few black teenagers were
in Fort Deposit, Alabama went to picket
white stores that discriminated.
They were eventually arrested and held in the county jail in Hayneville
for six days until they were bailed
out. After they were released on Friday, August 20 four of them
tried to enter a local shop they were met at the door by a man with
a shotgun who told them to leave or be shot. After a brief confrontation
he aimed the gun at a young girl and Jonathan pushed her out of the
way and took the blast of the shotgun himself. He was killed instantly.
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A 55 year old part-time
deputy sheriff of Lowndes County named Tom Coleman shot and killed Jonathan
Daniels. A grand jury indicted
him for manslaughter instead of murder, because
he testified that Jonathan pulled a knife on him. Then an all white
jury took less than two hours to find him not guilty and shook his hand
as they left out of the court-room.
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http://www.sau29.k12.nh.us/daniels/jd.html
http://hopeinthecities.org/News/sellocal.htm
http://www.hillsdale.edu/dept/Phil&Rel/Biography/08/14b.html
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