Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson

American civil rights activist

Date of Birth: 16-Dec-1938

Place of Birth: Marion, Alabama, United States

Date of Death: 26-Feb-1965

Profession: deacon

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Jimmie Lee Jackson (December 16, 1938 – February 26, 1965) was an African American veteran and civil rights activist in Marion, Alabama and a deacon in the Baptist church.
On February 18, 1965, while unarmed and participating in a peaceful voting rights march in his city, he was beaten by troopers and fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper.
Jackson died eight days later in the hospital. His death helped inspire the Selma to Montgomery marches in March 1965, a major event in the civil rights movement that helped gain congressional passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This opened the door to millions of African Americans being able to vote again in Alabama and across the South, regaining participation as citizens in the political system for the first time since the turn of the 20th century.
Most had been disenfranchised since then by state constitutions and discriminatory practices that made voter registration and voting more difficult.In 2005, former Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler admitted that he had shot Jackson, in what he said was self-defense soon after street lights had gone out and a melee had broken out.
Former trooper Fowler was indicted in 2007 in Jackson's death.
In 2010 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
He was sentenced to six months in prison.