Oneal Moore (1931 – June 2, 1965) was the first African-American deputy

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office in

Varnado, Louisiana Varnado is a village in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,461 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Varnado is located at (30.894911, -89.831635). According to ...

. He was murdered on June 2, 1965, by alleged members of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

, one year and a day after his landmark appointment as deputy sheriff. An

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

veteran, he was 34 years old, married, and the father of four daughters.

Events

The evening of June 2, 1965, Moore was driving home from work when an individual in a pickup truck shot at him and his partner, David Creed Rogers, another African-American deputy sheriff. Moore lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree, dying instantly from a gunshot wound to the head. Rogers suffered injuries, including to one eye, but survived the shooting and crash; he immediately broadcast a description of the vehicle, which he noted had a Confederate flag decal on its front bumper. Two suspects were arrested in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

not long afterward. One was Ernest Ray McElveen, a known

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 ...

. McElveen was represented by

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, attorney Osier Brown. He later also represented the two men charged with Clarence Triggs' murder the following year in 1966. The police filed no charges due to a lack of evidence and witnesses. The cold case was reopened by 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 ...

several times, first in 1990, then in 2001 and 2007, but they did not bring indictments.BBC - ''FBI reopens file on race hate murders''
/ref> McElveen, the prime suspect in the case, died in 2003. The

Deacons for Defense and Justice The Deacons for Defense and Justice was an armed African-American self-defense group founded in November 1964, during the civil rights era in the United States, in the mill town of Jonesboro, Louisiana. On February 21, 1965—the day of Malcolm X' ...

, an African-American group with a chapter organized in 1965 in

Bogalusa, Louisiana Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. In th2020 censusthe city, town, place equivalent reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city ...

, among other chapters, to protect civil rights workers, provided armed protection and support for Moore's widow and family.Alison Shay, "On This Day: The Courage of Deputies Moore and Rogers"
, 2 June 2012, ''The Long Civil Rights Movement'' website

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Oneal 1931 births 1965 deaths 1965 murders in the United States American police officers killed in the line of duty Deaths by firearm in Louisiana Deaths by person in Louisiana June 1965 events in the United States 1965 in Louisiana Victims of the Ku Klux Klan Male murder victims Murdered African-American people People from Washington Parish, Louisiana People murdered in Louisiana Racially motivated violence against African Americans Unsolved murders in the United States Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana

Events

See also

References

External links