Robert Edward Chambliss (January 14, 1904 – October 29, 1985), also known as ''Dynamite Bob'', was a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

convicted in 1977 of murder for his role as conspirator in the

16th Street Baptist Church bombing The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynam ...

in 1963. A member of the

United Klans of America The United Klans of America Inc. (UKA), based in Alabama, is a Ku Klux Klan organization active in the United States. Led by Robert Shelton, the UKA peaked in membership in the late 1960s and 1970s,Abby Ferber. '' White Man Falling: Race, Gender, ...

, Chambliss also

firebombed Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary ...

the houses of several

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

families in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Investigation and conviction

A May 13, 1965 memo to

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

identified Chambliss,

Bobby Frank Cherry Bobby Frank Cherry (June 20, 1930 – November 18, 2004) was an American white supremacist, terrorist, and Klansman who was convicted of murder in 2002 for his role in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The bombing killed four young A ...

, Herman Frank Cash and

Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. (June 20, 1938 – June 26, 2020) was an American terrorist and convicted felon, formerly serving four life sentences for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama on Septembe ...

as suspects in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young African-American girls. The investigation was originally closed in 1968; no charges were filed. Years later it was found that the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

had accumulated evidence against the named suspects that had not been revealed to the prosecutors by order of

. Edgar Hoover stopped and shut down the investigation in 1968. The files were used by Alabama

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Bill Baxley William Joseph Baxley II (born June 27, 1941), is an American Democratic politician and attorney from Dothan, Alabama. In 1964, Baxley graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa. Having previously served as district a ...

to reopen the case in 1971. In 1977 Chambliss was convicted of murder for the bombing and sentenced to several terms of life imprisonment. He died in Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center in Birmingham on October 29, 1985, still proclaiming his innocence. He was 81. Chambliss served his sentence in a prison near

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

References

1904 births 1985 deaths 1963 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals American people convicted of murder American truck drivers American murderers of children American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American people who died in prison custody Criminals from Alabama Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Alabama Prisoners who died in Alabama detention People convicted of murder by Alabama History of Birmingham, Alabama People from Birmingham, Alabama American mass murderers Ku Klux Klan members {{civil-rights-movement-stub

Investigation and conviction

References

Further reading

See also