1966 Liberty Super Market protests

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The 1966 Liberty Super Market protests were a series of Civil Rights demonstrations which took place on February 2022, 1966 outside the Liberty Super Market at 420 13th Street North in Birmingham's Fountain Heights neighborhood. The first evening's protest ended suddenly when a man whose car was impeded by the crowd opened fire, wounding five people.

The protest was organized in immediate response to an incident that took place at the store on Saturday, February 19. A black man, Tyler Turpin, had entered the store and called for his wife, who was following him, to hurry up. According to Mrs Turpin, he used his nickname for her, "Chick", prompting the store security guard, who misheard him, to accost him for "cursing", which quickly escalated to a shoving match. Mrs Turpin attempted to intervene but was struck in the head. Turpin was beaten, forced to the ground, and had his nose broken.

Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had been sent to Birmingham by Martin Luther King Jr in January to lead a campaign to register voters in the city. He took up the cause of the picketers and helped distribute signs accusing the store of discriminatory hiring practices. Picketers gathered outside the store on Sunday, and again on Monday afternoon. By the end of that day, Liberty Super Market's owners filed a federal lawsuit claiming $2 million in damages. The suit accused Williams and the SCLC of defamation in carrying plackets calling the store's hiring practices discriminatory, and of causing their customers to be "frightened and wrongfully induced not to trade."

Undaunted, Williams led another group of about 150 demonstrators from St Paul's AME Church in Smithfield to the supermarket that evening. As the large group moved across the parking lot toward the sidewalk, a man attempted to drive out of the lot. He revved his engine to warn the group to disperse and when some approached his window to confront him, he pulled out a .32 caliber automatic pistol and fired eight shots. Alberta Tate, 56; Simon Armstrong, 70; William James Maxwell, 32; Willie Andrews, 32; and Douglas Murray, 15, were injured. All five were admitted to University Hospital. Three were released with only minor injuries. One was transferred to the Birmingham VA Hospital with a broken leg and remained hospitalized through March. Andrews, shot in the stomach, was kept in critical care into July. Murray suffered a permanent injury.

Witnesses at the scene differed as to whether the crowd was unruly, or if one or the other party opened the car door, or laid hands on anyone beforehand. Three Birmingham police officers who were in the area testified that, "from where they were, it appeared Negroes were in the way of the car and tried to rock it."

Later in the evening the shooter, Emory Warren McGowan, a 23-year-old unemployed ex-Marine, surrendered to police at Birmingham City Hall. He was charged with five counts of assault with intent to murder. A female passenger in his car was questioned and released. At a bond hearing in the Jefferson County Circuit Court in late March Judge Robert Gwin bound the case over to a grand jury. McGowan posted $1,500 bond ($300 for each count) and was freed the next day. Hosea Williams, staff officer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference spoke at a mass meeting at St Paul's AME Church that Tuesday evening and led a group of 300 to 400 demonstrators , including as many as 90 ministers, in a march back to the supermarket. He then flew back to Atlanta to confer with SCLC president Martin Luther King Jr.

In addition to damages, the suit requested an injunction against further pickets. District Court Judge Clarence Allgood declared after a preliminary hearing that the picketers had, "obstructed...and molested," the supermarket's customers. He issued a 10-day order to limit the number of demonstrators to twelve at a time, all of whom must carry signs, stay on the sidewalk, and keep moving rather than forming groups. The SCLC had issued a demand that the store, at which more than 50% of the shoppers were black, should have at least 50% black employees. To help the parties reach a settlement, Allgood ordered that the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and the Community Relations Service should assist in negotiations under the terms of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. A tentative agreement was reached in March in which Liberty Super Market agreed to "start hiring Negroes," and the SCLC agreed to suspend demonstrations.

On March 26 a major march and rally was held by a collection of local Civil Rights organizations, partly in response to the previous month's troubles. Organizers hailed progress in registering voters as the best means for ensuring that other unrealized goals, such as the hiring of black police officers and equal educational opportunities, could be met.

On May 6 a grand jury found no probable cause to indict McGowan. On May 11 a group called the Concerned White Citizens of Alabama met with District Attorney Earl Morgan to ask questions about the grand jury proceeding, such was why the DA saw fit to bring defense witnesses, and to petition him to re-open the case. He declined. A week later the group sent letters to assistant U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. That letter went unanswered, so after another three weeks the group sent another copy of the letter, with copies to two Senators involved in Civil Rights legislation. Special assistant for Civil Rights enforcement Wiley Branton wrote back to acknowledge receiving the letter, but the Department of Justice made no indication that it would investigate.

In February 1967 attorneys George Bouloukos and Jerry Lorant, representing one of the shooting victims, William Maxwell, filed a suit for $150,000 in damages against the SCLC. Maxwell, who was not a participant in the demonstration, was released after treatment for minor injuries. He later disputed his attorneys' claim that he had authorized the suit, saying that he did talk to them about seeking compensation for his injuries, but had no issue with the SCLC.

References

  • "Rights Group Faces Suit for Libel" (February 22, 1966) The Montgomery Advertiser
  • "Five Shot in Birmingham at Picketed Supermarket" (February 22, 1966) The Montgomery Advertiser
  • "Birmingham Ministers Hold March" (February 23, 1966) The Montgomery Advertiser
  • "Rights Leaders Hint 'March'." (February 23, 1966) The Selma Times-Journal
  • "Picketing Ban Hearing Set." (February 24, 1966) The Selma Times-Journal
  • Vaughn, Richard J. (February 26, 1966) "Shots Blast Pickets At Birmingham Store" The Southern Courier
  • "Judge Grants Supermarket Injunction" (February 26, 1966) The Montgomery Advertiser
  • "Judge Considering Testimony On Limiting Supermarket Pickets" (March 2, 1966) The Montgomery Advertiser
  • "Agencies Called in Picket Case." (March 3, 1966) The Selma Times-Journal
  • "Supermarket Damage Suit Called Off" (March 16, 1966) The Anniston Star
  • Newton, Harold (April 2, 1966) "Rally Draws 1000 in Birmingham" The Southern Courier
  • "Grand Jury Given Case" (April 5, 1966) The Anniston Star
  • Gregg, Don (July 2, 1966) "Citizens' Group Fights to Convict Suspect in B'ham Liberty Super Market Shooting" The Southern Courier
  • "Man Injured in Shooting Sues SCLC for $150,000" (March 11, 1967) The Southern Courier