...why don't you get back to your commie, nigger-lovin' bosses up North?
You must not know my boss - Mr. Hoover.
He's not too fond of commies. He'd be on your side there.
I don't give two shits whose side your Mr. Hoover's on, boy.
All I know is we got 5,000 niggers in this county who ain't registered to vote yet.
And, as far as I'm concerned, they never will.
So tell your stiff suits up in Washington, DC, they ain't gonna change us one bit.
Unless it's over my dead body. Or a lot of dead niggers.
You'd kill, Frank? Is that what you're sayin'?
I wouldn't give it no more thought than wringin' a cat's neck.
And there ain't a court in Mississippi that'd convict me for it.
How about you, Deputy?
- How are you with wringin' necks, huh? - Just keep pushin' me, Hoover boy.
You get this straight, you cornhole fucker.
Tell your queer-ass bosses they'll never find them civil rightsters down here.
So you might as well pack your bags and head up North where you belong.
You get this straight, shitkicker.
Don't you go mistakin' me for some whole other body.
Your brain's in your dick if you think we'll just fade away.
We're gonna be here till this thing's finished.
How about you, Deputy?
Is that gun just for show?
Or do you get to shoot people once in a while?
Thanks for the beer.
Ask them if they want to help save this country from the onslaught of integration,
You know the system: They want to throw white children and colored children...
... into the melting pot of integration...
... out of which will come a conglomerated, mulatto, mongrel class of people!
Both races will be destroyed in such a movement,
I, for one, under God will die before I'll yield one inch...
... to that kind of a movement in America,
Do you know the trouble you've caused?
They've been on the radio all day, talkin' about FBI intimidation.
We're not thugs, Mr. Anderson. We're gonna do this thing my way.
- I know. Bureau procedure. - Why were you at the beauty parlor?
If that was Bureau business, I wanna know about it. If not, I won't allow it.
- Do you understand me?! - Get in here!
You know your problem? You don't know when to speak and when to shut up!
That makes you a fool!
Mrs. Pell won't say anything her husband doesn't want her to.
And I'm not gonna choke it out of her!
This can of worms only opens from the inside.
I know that.
Freedom! Freedom!
White nigger!
White niggers!
Hurry up! Hurry up!
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
20 cents?
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
- Hi. - Hey, now!
Just passin' by. Just sayin' hello. You're not out watchin' the parade?
How come you don't ask me questions? Everybody's been talked to 'cept me.
Why don't you send some of them good-lookin' FBI boys to talk to me?
Sorry about the intrusion. I was at the hardware store and...
- Pecan? - I'm sick of pecans.
Freedom! Freedom!
Are you willing to stand and fight? - Yes!
How'd you find out about this?
Bureau procedure, Mr. Ward.
Sheriff Stuckey.
He got his phone call.
Wonder who else was called.
Where you goin', boy?
Go on. Get outta here.
Here they come.
- Come on. Let's go. - We'll wait until they go back inside.
Get him!
Get him into the goddamn truck!
Get inside, you sons of bitches.
- Let's go! - Wait until they go back inside!
Come on, Ward. Let's go. Come on!
Go on!
- Turn left! - How do you know?
I don't. Just turn left.
There's the truck.
Go up that little road there.
Stop, stop.
What's wrong with these people?
Mrs. Walker, I know this is difficult for you, but I really need your help.
If you could just persuade your son to press charges...
...then we could pick up the deputy at least, right away.
He won't talk to no one.
- And it won't do no good anyway. - I promise you, it will.
Leave him alone.
Maybe then they'll let us alone.
If this is a pattern, I guess at least we know what happened on June 21st.
Pell stopped the three boys for speeding at three o'clock.
He held them in jail until the Klan could get organized.
Then he released 'em at 10.30. By that time, his buddies were ready and waiting.
No. Pell went with 'em that night. I'm sure of it.
Do you think he'll crack?
Down here they say rattlesnakes don't commit suicide.
Did you release the three civil rights workers...
...into the hands of the Klan on the night of June 21st?
No.
- Are you a member of the Ku Klux Klan? - No.
- Have you ever been a member? - No.
Are you familiar with the term Grand Cyclops?
I've heard of it.
Were you in fact the Grand Cyclops of the East Mississippi Klavern...
...of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for the past three years?
Objection. My client's already told you, he's not even a member of the Klan.
Objection? This is just an interview, sir. There's really no need to be so formal.
Well, if this is just an interview, I guess I don't have to stay here. I got work to do.
- I guess you do too, don't you? - Yes, sir. You can be sure that we'll do it.
Good luck.
Y'all get enough to indict me, you know where to find me.
- How'd it go? - Fine. Just fine.
Don't you worry about a goddamn thing.
Are you about to be indicted?
Does the FBI have evidence against the sheriff's office?
- Are you cooperating with them? - We're cooperatin'. We have all along.
There's not one iota of proof.
Could you not do that, please? Sir, do not do that, please.
You've already been told once! Get the fuck outta here!
Do we have to tell you 2,000 times? Go back where you belong!
Get outta my face!
Get on outta here and leave us alone! Leave us alone!
Go on home where you belong, boy! You're gonna get hurt!
Mr. Ward, this is gettin' to be about as much as we can take.
- I cannot register a stronger complaint. - Not now, sir.
Now, just a minute. I resent your public pursuit of my sheriff's department.
You have made every effort to implicate them in these disappearances.
Your slimy innuendoes are not evidence that they were connected with any crime.
We're trying to get to the truth. We're frustrated too.
Any jackass can point a finger, but that ain't evidence.
Us old cotton-choppers are still stupid enough to believe in democracy.
- We know our rights under the law! - You know somethin', all right.
- I'd bet a cotton-choppin' dollar on that. - You're gettin' so far up my nose...
...I'm beginnin' to feel your boots on my chin.
And I'm tellin' you one more time, Mr. Apple Red.
A couple of crazies in bed sheets dancin' round the countryside scarin' Negroes...
...is not the fault of the entire state of Mississippi!
There are three dead kids and a lot of scared people because of your sheriff.
- So get used to havin' us around. - Get used to my boots on your chin too.
And you people better back off.
Goddamn FBI. Who do they think they are, comin' to my part of the country...
- Do you have a statement, Mr. Mayor? - Goddamn right I have.
For a moment there, Mr. Anderson...
...it sounded like we were both on the same side.
- Are you all right, honey? - Yeah, I'm fine.
- Let me know if you need anything. - Thanks. I will.
Momma! Come quick!
There's no sign of him, sir. He's long gone.
His mother lives across the street. She won't even answer the door.
I want the whole area covered. Someone must have seen something.
- They won't talk to us. - Get going, Mr. Bird.
If they won't talk to us, shake it out of 'em.
Let's go. Every house. Come on.
What?
All these white guys chasin' around with their notebooks will get you nowhere.
OK. What would you do?
It's OK to be afraid.
Go on, Willie. Tell 'em what you saw.
The defendants will rise.
In this country a man's home is his castle.
That is one of the principles by which this community survives.
You men have done violence to that principle.
But I want you to know that the court understands...
...that the crimes you have committed have been, to some extent at least...
...brought about by... outside influences.
Outsiders have come into Jessup County...
...and they've been people of low morality...
...and unhygienic.
And their presence here has provoked a lot of people.
So the court understands...
...without condoning them, mind you...
...that the crimes to which you men have pled guilty...
...were, to some extent at least, provoked by these outside influences.
So, with all this, I'm gonna make your punishment light.
I'm gonna sentence you each to five years' imprisonment.
But I'm gonna suspend these sentences.
You can't go in there, sir.
FBI. Let us through.
I'm sorry, sir. You can't go in there.
Sheriff?
Y'all really started somethin' this time.
Move these cars. I wanna go in and talk to them.
- You've gone as far as you're gonna go. - We can handle this.
Just some crazy coloureds tearin' up their own assholes.
Local problem.
Look at those flames, Mr. Ward. That's why they sent you down here, wasn't it?
It would've happened anyway and you know it.
If I was a Negro, I'd probably think the same way they do.
If you were a Negro, nobody'd give a damn what you thought.
Aaron! Take your momma, grand momma and the children out the back door.
When you hit the road, keep goin'. You understand? Keep goin', son.
Nathan! Come on, Nathan. Get up!
Get up, Nathan, now! Come on! Get out of the bed!
What's happening? - Momma! Come on, Momma.
Come on, y'all.
Come on, Grandma. Let's go!
Everything's OK, Papa.
Momma and the girls are fine.
They just cracked your head some. You just keep on breathin'.
Don't you go dyin' on me now.
You hear me?
You gonna be just fine.
You know, cows won't run away. No one knows why. They're just stupid, I guess.
They just stand there until their bellies swell up and they pop.
They have relatives in Detroit.
- Are they gonna go? - I didn't give 'em any choice.
At least we know who did this.
- We did. - Well, don't fret. It's progress.
20 years ago they'd have strung 'em up for stealin' a watermelon.
I don't understand you, Mr. Anderson. Not at all.
Let's get somethin' straight, all right?
This thing was fucked up the moment we turned it into a show for the newsmen.
The moment those three kids disappeared, it was news.
The moment the three civil rights workers disappeared, it was news.
To me they're just kids. They're still missin'.
What's missing... is the 50 minutes Pell said he was with his wife.
OK.
I love Mississippi.
They...
They hate Mississippi.
They hate us because we present a shining example...
...of successful segregation.
These Northern students, with their atheist, communist bosses...
...that have come into our community this summer with the wish to destroy it...
...this week have taken a terrible blow.
This week their cause has been crippled.
This week all of these federal policemen you see out here pryin' into our lives...
...violatin' our civil liberties...
...have learned that they are powerless against us...
...if every single Anglo-Saxon Christian one of us stands together!
This week...
- Ward? - We have company, sir.
Why are you here? This is a political meeting.
- Doesn't smell that way to me, Deputy. - It's a political meeting, Hoover boy.
Oh, it looks like a political meeting but smells more like Klan to me...
...with or without the Halloween costumes.
Gentlemen.
In the courts of Mississippi, they have been reminded...
...that they cannot by force turn our communities...
...into replicas of their communities.
Communities in which Negroes run riot, unrestrained and unpunished...
...as they do this summer in the streets of Harlem, or in the streets of Oakland...
...or in the streets of Chicago!
Can I come in?
It's not good for you to be here.
- Why? - It's ugly.
This whole thing is so ugly.
Have you any idea what it's like to live with all this?
People look at us... and only see bigots and racists.
Hatred isn't something you're born with.
It gets taught.
At school they said segregation is what it said in the Bible.
Genesis 9, verse 27.
At seven years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it.
You believe the hatred.
You live it. You breathe it.
You marry it.
My husband drove one of the cars that night.
- Shh. - That's what you wanna hear, isn't it?
The bodies are buried on the Roberts farm, in an earthen dam.
Sir!
Take a break, Mr. Bird.
Put some handkerchiefs around your face.
Bring that here.
The bodies of the three civil rights workers were found today...
...at an undisclosed grave.
Neither the FBI nor the sheriff's department will comment on the case.
The bodies were brought to Jessup County Hospital.
Officials here also refused comment.
There is speculation that an autopsy will be performed later tonight.
OK, keep it open. We're comin' through.
Come on, open it up.
Hold it back.
Clinton, you got problems at home to tend to.
What do you mean?
I mean pull your head out of your ass and get home!
"I, Vincent Thompson, am the cheddar-cheese champion of the world,"
"In international competition with 42 other entries, my cheddar won first prize...
... based on flavor, texture, appearance and color,"
Hey, Clinton. I didn't expect you home so early.
Hi, Frank.
No, don't. I'm sorry.
Sir.
Say again?
I'll be right there.
- Mr. Bird. - Yes, sir?
Get five men and meet me outside.
- Where's Anderson? - He's at the motel, sir.
You two take the front door. If anyone tries to get past you, break 'em down.
You two take the door on the corridor. Mr. Bird?
OK. Go get Anderson. Bring him here.
Don't tell him why. Don't tell him anything. Just get him here.
Mr. Anderson. Stop!
- Mr. Anderson! - Go to hell.
I'm telling you to stop and I mean it. We're not killers.
- It's the difference between them and us. - No, between them and you!
- You're no more like them than I am. - Wrong.
What do you care what I do to a bastard hidin' behind a sheriff's badge?
- You have the whole world to change! - And I'm changin' it.
- You're as arrogant as you are stupid! - You're changin' it too.
I'll make some changes right now!
Don't mess this up just because you like foolin' around with witnesses.
A gun don't mean shit unless you use it.
- I'll kill you now if you don't listen to me. - Fuck you.
Let me go. Let me go.
- We'll go after all of 'em, together. - You wouldn't know how!
- You'll teach me. - You don't have the guts.
Not only do I have the guts, I have the authority.
What is that supposed to mean?
New rules. We nail 'em any way we can. Even your way.
Is this you talkin' or some guy pullin' your strings?
Both.
- We do it my way. - Your way.
- With my people! - Whatever it takes.
OK.
Gimme a minute.
- You think he would've shot me? - Oh, yes, sir.
He's a ballsy little bastard, isn't he?
They want me to say "Let us not forget...
...that two white boys also died helping Negroes help themselves. "
They want me to say "We mourn with the mothers of these two white boys. "
But the state of Mississippi won't even allow these white boys...
...to be buried in the same cemetery as this Negro boy.
I say I have no more love to give,
I have only anger in my heart today...
... and I want you to be angry with me!
Now, I am sick and I am tired...
... and I want you to be sick and tired with me!
I... I... I am sick and tired of going to the funerals...
... of black men who have been murdered by white men!
I... I am sick and tired of the people of this country...
... who continue to allow these things to happen!
What is an "inalienable right" if you are a Negro?
What does it mean, "equal treatment under the law"?
What does it mean, "liberty and justice for all"?
Now I say to these people:
Look at the face of this young man and you will see the face of a black man,
But, if you look at the bloodshed, it is red, It is like yours!
It is just like yours!
You...
I'm gonna tell you a story.
A young kid named Homer Wilkes lives about 30 miles north of here.
He'd just taken his girlfriend home and was walkin' back along the road...
...when a car pulled up.
Three white boys took him for a ride.
Now...
...he hadn't done anything...
...except...
...be a Negro.
And they took him to a shack.
A shack like... like this one.
And they took out a razor blade...
...a regular old razor blade, like this one...
...and they pulled down his pants...
...and they spread his legs...
...and they sliced off his scrotum.
Put it in a coffee cup.
And do you know how much you bleed when somebody cuts off your balls?
Huh?!
When they found Homer, he looked like he'd been dipped in blood up to his waist.
He was barely alive when they got him to the hospital.
He can hardly walk now.
Mayor, we know you know...
...who was there when those three civil rights boys was murdered.
We know you know who pulled the trigger.
Is there somethin' you wanna say to me?
OK!
- Is he with the Bureau? - Yeah. He's kind of a specialist.
- You're sure the mayor won't talk? - No, they'd kill him!
All right. What do you have?
There were three cars and seven men. Pell and Bailey did the killing.
- Sheriff Stuckey? - He was too smart to be there.
- So Pell pulled the trigger for him. - And Townley?
It was his idea. Grand Dragons, they don't get their hands dirty.
The whole thing, huh? Bullet by bullet.
I don't suppose you're interested in words like "coercion" or "hearsay" or "duress".
This is no good in court.
We're not in court, Mr. Ward. We'll never get 'em on murder anyway.
That's a state charge. These hayseeds will never prosecute.
- I know that! - We've got to get 'em in federal court!
- Violation of civil rights! - Remember whose rights you're violatin'!
- Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward! - Don't drag me into your gutter!
These people crawled out of a sewer, Mr. Ward!
And maybe the gutter's where we should be!
Thank you.
This better be important.
Who the hell called this meeting?
- We thought you did. - Of this group? Are you stupid?
You didn't call this? Shit.
- If you didn't call this, who the fuck did? - Shut up.
Is this some kind of bullshit setup? Ray, are you sure you didn't call this?
Cos I got a note from my wife and it said it was from you and Clinton.
Lester, shut up!
Now, we're all gonna walk straight outta here...
...and say nothing.
That means nothin', Lester.
- First one who opens his mouth is dead. - Shut up.
Hey, Clinton.
Clinton.
Looks like the rattlesnakes are startin' to commit suicide.
Hi, Lester.
We'll give you that ride home.
What?
Well, I know you said 4.30 but we're runnin' a little late, so...
- I'll meet you in the car. - You're cracked.
Do you have change of a 20?
Sure.
Get in the car, Lester.
Or you'll have a hard time pickin' your nose once I've closed this drawer.
Lester, you could make it a lot easier on yourself by goin' on the record right now.
I ain't got nothin' to say. You barkin' up the wrong tree, mister.
Lester, I gotta tell you somethin'. We got you cold.
Your buddies have already talked.
You're lyin'.
You're in a lot of trouble. We know you drove the second vehicle, the green truck.
And your buddy says... Refresh my memory here, Mr. Bird.
"Lester Cowens kicked the Negro twice in the face and then shot him. "
- That's a goddamn lie. - No, it's true. What else, Mr. Bird?
"Lester Cowens said 'They only left me a nigger, but at least I shot me a nigger. "'
- I didn't kill him. I shot him in the ass. - We know that.
He was already dead by the time you shot him. But your buddy sees it differently.
Your buddy tells it that you killed the kid. You either go on the record right now...
...or it's gonna be your ass we're talkin' about, not just a black kid's!
Think about it, Lester. Come on out of there.
Come on out.
This is tricky.
They make it look so easy, don't they?
I got a question for you, Clinton.
You don't mind if I call you Clinton, do you?
I feel like I know you so well.
The way we have it, on the night of the murders...
...you made a short speech as the bulldozer buried the kids in the dam.
How does Lester tell it?
"Mississippi will be proud of you. You've struck a blow for the white man. "
Is that what you said, Clinton? Hm?
Is that what you said?
It must've been you...
...because Clayton Townley and Ray Stuckey were too smart to be there.
And you was too stupid to think anybody'd remember what you said.
But old Lester, he got a good memory.
I'm sorry. I haven't done this for a long time.
Did you make a speech the night that you beat up your wife, Clinton? Huh?
Did ya?
Did you strike a blow for the white man that night?
You got a stupid smile. You know that, Pell?
Can you see it? Huh? Good!
Did you smile when the bulldozer ran over the black kid's body? Did ya?!
Did you smile when the bodies were covered over? Did ya?!
Get up here. Come on. Get up!
Did you smile that same stupid smile, huh?!
Did ya?! You...
Did ya smile, Pell? Did ya smile?!
Huh?! Did ya?!
Make no mistake about it, Deputy.
I'll cut your fuckin' head off and not give a shit how it reads in the report sheet.
One more bite. One more bite.
One more bite, darlin'. One more bite.
- Shit, Lester! What the fuck is goin' on?! - Shut up!
Get in the bedroom and lock the door! And stay away from the windows!
Shit.
Please. Please! I didn't say a thing!
I swear! It's a setup! I didn't say nothin'! I didn't say nothin'!
Nothin'! I didn't say nothin'! I didn't say nothin'!
You're lucky we've been watchin' your ass, Lester.
If you go on the record, Mr. Cowens, we'll give you protection. If not...
If not, they're gonna kill you anyway.
Oh. You need a toilet, Lester.
We really had him goin', huh?
We'll take care of the check, Mr. Swilley.
Well, I suppose I'II... be back for supper.
Button up, Wesley.
Why did he do it?
He wasn't even in on it. Wasn't even Klan.
Mr. Bird, he was guilty.
Anyone's guilty who watches this happen and pretends it isn't.
No. He was guilty all right.
Just as guilty as the fanatics who pulled the trigger.
Maybe we all are.
Hello!
Yeah.
I just missed you at the hospital. They said you'd gone home.
What's left of it.
- I'm real sorry. - So am I.
- What are you gonna do? - I don't know.
- Where will you go? - I'm not goin' anywhere. I'm stayin'.
This is my home. Born here.
Probably die here.
If I wanted to leave, I would've done it a long time ago.
Things'll work out.
There's enough good people around here know what I did was right.
And enough ladies like the way I fix their hair.
Hey.
If you're ever in Des Moines...
...don't send me a postcard.
OK.
You wanna drive, Rupert?
Yeah.
Visiontext Subtitles: Doreen Trenerry
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