Chester McNutt

Chester McNutt in 1959

Chester X. McNutt, known as Raymond Sherrief (born February 4, 1917; died July 26, 1993) was an organizer for the Nation of Islam affiliated Muhammad's Temples of Islam.

McNutt came to the city from Chicago in order to establish a local temple. He resided at 1107 13th Avenue North near Fountain Heights Park in Fountain Heights. McNutt and another man were questioned by police when they appeared at Birmingham City Hall to inquire about the arrest of a teen aged follower, Eugene Meadows, who had been charged with, "selling out-of-town newspapers on a downtown street corner without authorization." During questioning, Johnnie Stevenson, identifying himself as "Johnnie X," proclaimed that the time was near for a holy war, during which all who deny Allah as God would be killed. When asked if he was a follower of Fred Shuttlesworth, McNutt said that he had attended meetings where the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights leader had spoken, "out of curiosity," but concluded that Shuttlesworth was, "a clown that was out to get all the Negro people's money."

After that encounter, McNutt moved to Anniston where he served as minister to a small temple. He also operated the West Side Restaurant on West 15th Street. He was arrested in 1973 when a police officer investigating a burglary in the area suffered a gunshot wound from a booby trap connected to a door at the restaurant.

McNutt died in Anniston in 1993, and is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Annie Mae.

References

• Gordon, Bud (July 19, 1959)"Arrest of Negro boy discloses moslem sect functioning here" The Birmingham News - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
• "Man Who Rigged Gun Trap Charged" (September 20, 1973) Anniston Star