MICHAEL DONALD PRESENTATION

presented by marine and celeste

Lynching of Michael Donald

importants points

conclusion

criminal and Civil proceedings

the Investigation

the murder

the background

what is the KKK?

what is the Ku Klux Klan ?

• American white supremacist, far-right terrorist organization and hate group.

3 big organizations :

• The first Klan, founded by Confederate veterans in the late 1860s
• The second Klan started in 1915 as a small group in Georgia.

• The third and current manifestation of the KKK emerged after 1950, in the form of localized and isolated groups that use the KKK name. Opposed to the civil right movement
• today : The United States government still considers the Klan to be a "subversive terrorist organization"

Josephus Anderson at court

how it started :

• Josephus Anderson in 1981 , an African American who was charged with the murder of a white policeman in Birmingham

• members of the United Klans of America (UKA => based in Alabama, KKK organization), complained that Anderson was not convicted since the jury had African-American members.

• Benny Hays, one official of this organization declared that "If a black man can get away with killing a white man, we ought to be able to get away with killing a black man."

March 20, 1981, Henry Hays (aged 26) – Bennie Hays's son and the Exalted Cyclops of the UKA, along with someone called James Llewellyn "Tiger" Knowles (aged 17), drove around the city looking for a black person to attack

James Knowles, 17 y/o

Henry Hays (aged 26)

Michael Donald

the murder

• they decided to kill Michael Donald
• born in Alabama
• the youngest of six children.
• attended local schools while growing up.

Without any link to the Anderson case or even a past criminal record, Donald was chosen randomly for being black. The men left Donald's lifeless body hanging from a tree on Herndon Avenue across the street from Hays's house, where it remained until the next morning. The same night, two other UKA members burned a cross on the Mobile County courthouse lawn to celebrate the murder.

the investigation

• first trial : ended with a deadlock
• second mistrial on Friday March 20, 1981
• Anderson would ultimately have a third mistrial before being convicted of capital murder at his fourth trial

TIMELINE

James LLewelyn Tiger Knowles confessed saying it was to show Klan strength not only in Alabama but in all the US- implicated Henry Francis Hays who pleaded not guilty

the FBI special agent James Bodman investigated the case,

the mother of Donald pushed the Mobile Police Department not to lose sight of justice for Michael Donald.

The investigation began

june 1983

January 1983

April 1981

25th of March, 1981

criminal and civil proceedings

• The criminal proceedings concerning James LLewelyn Tiger Knowles and Henry Francis Hayles began at the end of the year 1983 and finished at the beginning of the year 1984.
• An agreement was made, as James LLewelyn Tiger Knowles testified against Henry Francis Hayles and other Klansmen at the trial

• Henry Francis Hayles was convicted of capital murder.

• the jury sentenced Hays to death.
• electric chair in 1997
• civil proceedings later, in june 1984

other people involved in the murder:

• Benjamin Franklin Cox Junior, a truck driver from Mobile, provided the rope

• Bennie Jack Hays, the father of Henry Francis Hayles, incited the murder.

civil proceedings

• The mother of Donald filed a wrongful death civil suit against the United Klans of America and others.

• The jury awarded 7 million damages.

VIdeo

conclusion

• it effectively bankrupted the Klan, giving him less strength in Alabama as well as in the US.
• society had already begun to evolve concerning segregation

thanks for listening !

our sources :

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynchage_de_Michael_Donaldhttps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klanhttps://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/10/us/michael-donald-case-timeline/index.htmlhttps://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/donald-v-united-klans-america