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to the hospital. The driver was shamed into taking both black and white casualties by the white Riders' refusal to go without their black companions, coupled with the intervention of an undercover policeman, Ell
Cowling. When the injured Freedom Riders arrived at the hospital there was no doctor present, only nurses to provide aid to those in need. They were eventually denied medical attention because they had "caused a commotion" by bringing the white mob to the hospital. Even though Gary Thomas Rowe had informed the FBI three weeks earlier that the attack on Freedom Riders would happen, they decided not to intervene but only to ask what had happened to
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We made an astounding sight ... men running and walking down the streets of
Birmingham on Sunday afternoon carrying chains, sticks, and clubs. Everything was deserted; no police officers were to be seen except one on a street corner. He stepped off and let us go by, and we barged into the bus station
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The FBI was also said to believe that Rowe was involved in the bombing of Martin Luther King Jr.'s motel room at the Gaston Motel on May 11, 1963, as well as the bombing of the house and parsonage of Martin Luther King Jr.'s brother. Through one of his
African American informants, Rowe claimed that
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sustained life-threatening injuries either from the beatings by the Ku Klux Klan, or from prolonged exposure to the smoke and fumes from the destroyed bus, and were sent to
Anniston Memorial Hospital for immediate attention. When an ambulance arrived, its driver would only take white Freedom Riders
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Rowe admitted to using a baseball bat during the attack, in which the mob attacked the
Greyhound bus carrying the Freedom Riders at a bus station in Anniston, Alabama on May 14, Mothers Day. They slashed the tires and set the bus on fire with the Freedom Riders still inside. The mob held the doors
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Rowe surfaced in 1975 before a congressional committee. Wearing a bizarre cotton hood that resembled the Klan headpiece to conceal his new identity, Rowe told the Senate committee that the FBI had known and approved of his violence against blacks. He testified that the FBI did nothing to stop the
349:
Rowe was relocated to his home town of
Savannah, Georgia. Later that year, Alabama authorities attempted to have him extradited back to Alabama to charge him with the murder of Liuzzo. However, they were unsuccessful. Rowe claimed that the FBI had promised him complete immunity in return for the
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that killed four young girls. One of the
Klansmen eventually convicted of the crime, Robert E. Chambliss, said that it was Rowe who had bombed the church. Investigative records show that Rowe, who was no stranger to dynamite, had twice failed polygraph tests when questioned as to his possible
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In 1978, Rowe confessed to killing an unknown black man in a riot with a firearm, a previously undisclosed crime. By making this confession, one of the investigation memos suggests that Rowe may have been bargaining for blanket immunity for whatever occurred while he was an informant.
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In 1975, when in front of the Senate committee, Rowe told them that the FBI knew and disregarded his participation in the violent attacks on
African Americans and that he was also tasked with causing friction within the KKK by having sexual relations with some of the Klansmen's wives.
337:
In 1965, Rowe testified as a trial witness against the three other
Klansmen involved in Liuzzo's murder: Collie Leroy Wilkins Jr., William Orville Eaton, and Eugene Thomas. Because he had provided information leading to their conviction, Federal authorities placed Rowe in the
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black
Muslims were responsible for placing the bombs there. Rowe was eventually arrested with several other Klansmen in June 1963 after Alabama police received a tip-off that they were in possession of a truck full of assorted firearms and explosives intended for use at the
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shut, intending to let the peaceful civil rights group burn alive, but a small explosion scared them back from the door. As the Freedom Riders exited the bus, they were badly beaten by the mob and many had to be taken to hospitals which refused to treat them.
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Although there were state patrolmen there during the incident and they fired warning shots to call off the mob, they did very little to protect the Freedom Riders from being beaten and burnt alive. Most of the Freedom Riders who were intercepted in
156:. After his discharge, Rowe attempted to join the county sheriff's department but his application was rejected because he did not have a high school diploma. He earned a living as a nightclub bouncer, and he worked briefly with the
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with other activists. Rowe was in the car with three other Klansmen as they chased Viola's car after they saw a black man in the passenger seat. They pulled up next to her car and shot her dead.
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and who was seeking a career in law enforcement. The FBI decided that what made him a good candidate for the Klan also made him a good candidate to be an informant against the Klan for the FBI.
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243:, who was one of the injured Freedom Riders. She stated, "When I woke up the nurse asked me if I could talk with the FBI. The FBI man did not care about us, but only the bombing".
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At the age of 64, Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. died of a heart attack on May 25, 1998, in Savannah, Georgia. He was buried under the name Thomas Neil Moore, the name given to him by the
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who was also caught and beaten. Although the camera was smashed, the film survived and the photo became one of only a few pieces of physical evidence of Rowe's involvement.
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The Freedom Riders were attacked by the KKK again in Birmingham. Once again, Gary Thomas Rowe played a central role in the mobbing and with the help of Commissioner
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Years later, Rowe recalled how a call from police headquarters to Rowe had tipped them off to when and where to attack the Freedom Riders in Birmingham, saying:
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A photograph of Rowe and several others, including Eastview Klavern leader Hubert Page, beating George Webb on May 14, 1961, was taken by Tommy Langston of the
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and for a private security company. For the rest of his life, Rowe would be a highly controversial figure. However, he was never convicted of any wrongdoing.
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Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was born on August 13, 1933, in Savannah, Georgia, to Gary Thomas Rowe and Alma Ann Sellars. He dropped out of high school to join the
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After Rowe testified against fellow Klansmen in the Liuzzo case in 1965, Rowe was relocated to Savannah, Georgia, his home town, where he worked for the
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From 1965 until his death, Rowe was a figure of recurring controversy after he testified against fellow Klansmen who were accused of killing
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390:. According to Eugene Brooks, who had been Rowe's lawyer, Rowe had become bankrupt and had long been divorced from his fourth wife.
132:. Given immunity, he was never convicted of any wrongdoing. Rowe admitted to many of these violent acts in his 1976 autobiography,
318:, that she was a heroin addict and had abandoned her children to have sexual relationships with African Americans involved in the
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Barrett G. Kemp in April 1960. The FBI discovered that the Klan was attempting to recruit Rowe, a man known for his work with the
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project, to monitor and disrupt the Klan's activities. Rowe participated in violent Klan activity against African Americans and
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involvement in the bombing. Because of this, the FBI and the prosecution did not use Rowe as a witness in Chambliss's trial.
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and took it over like an army of occupation. There were Klansmen in the waiting room, in the rest rooms, in the parking area.
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in American history, in May 1960. He began receiving payments from the FBI for "services rendered," and FBI Director
124:, a civil rights volunteer. He was accused of being an accessory to the murder. He was involved in the attack on the
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The FBI attempted to downplay the situation and discredit Liuzzo by spreading rumors that she was a member of the
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chapters. They assured Rowe that the mob would have 15 minutes to attack the bus before any arrests were made.
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under the name of Thomas Neil Moore. Following his testimony, Rowe was rewarded with a job as a deputy
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The payments that Rowe received from the FBI ranged from $ 80 to $ 250 with the addition of expenses.
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Rowe successfully infiltrated Eastview Klavern 13, the most violent chapter of the
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in Anniston, Alabama. He worked together with the Birmingham Police Commissioner,
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In 1961, Gary Thomas Rowe helped plan and lead a violent mob attack against the
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Rowe was married four times, fathered three children and adopted two children.
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541:"Gary T. Rowe Jr., 64, Who Informed on Klan In Civil Rights Killing, Is Dead"
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484:"Gary T. Rowe Jr., 64, Who Informed on Klan In Civil Rights Killing, Is Dead"
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The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo
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supporter) to organize violence against the Freedom Riders with local
322:. This came at a time when the Bureau was also trying to smear Dr.
295:. They were later released from jail and given back their weapons.
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In 1965, Rowe was involved in the murder of civil rights activist
89:(August 13, 1933 – May 25, 1998), known in Witness Protection as
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Freedom riders : 1961 and the struggle for racial justice
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In 1979 his autobiography was adapted into the NBC TV movie
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In 1963, Gary Thomas Rowe may have helped perpetrate the
576:"Civil Rights Movement -- History & Timeline, 1961"
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information he provided against the other Klansmen.
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366:violence, even when he gave them advance warning.
459:"Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. | Encyclopedia of Alabama"
518:. Star News. Associated Press. January 30, 1983
754:"Hoover smear tactics hurt civil rights case"
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664:
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136:and in confession and testimony given to the
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604:"Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961"
167:Recruitment by the FBI and the Ku Klux Klan
796:Federal Bureau of Investigation informants
134:My Undercover Years with the Ku Klux Klan,
15:
534:
532:
438:My Undercover Years with the Ku Klux Klan
703:"FBI informant tells of murder, silence"
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328:Southern Christian Leadership Conference
218:, and Police Sergeant Tom Cook (an avid
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128:and also accused of involvement in the
680:. The Tuscaloosa News. October 4, 1978
516:"Civil rights rider keeps fight alive"
158:Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
105:. As an informant, he infiltrated the
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194:personally approved these payments.
705:. Ocala Star-Banner. New York Times
674:"Rowe says he'll fight extradition"
154:United States Marine Corps Reserves
539:Kaufman, Michael T. (1998-10-04).
482:Kaufman, Michael T. (1998-10-04).
276:16th Street Baptist Church bombing
270:16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
130:16th Street Baptist Church bombing
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752:Anderson, Jack (March 21, 1983).
801:Georgia National Guard personnel
701:Raines, Howell (July 11, 1978).
206:Mob attack on the Freedom Riders
55:Savannah, Georgia, United States
201:Involvement in the Ku Klux Klan
436:Rowe, Gary Thomas Jr. (1976).
307:as she was returning from the
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806:People from Savannah, Georgia
791:American Ku Klux Klan members
627:Raymond., Arsenault (2006).
287:to prevent the admission of
635:. Oxford University Press.
309:Selma to Montgomery marches
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388:Witness Protection Program
340:Witness Protection Program
299:The murder of Viola Liuzzo
171:Rowe was recruited by FBI
440:. New York: Bamtam Book.
422:. Yale University Press.
463:Encyclopedia of Alabama
376:Undercover with the KKK
264:Birmingham Post-Herald,
109:, as part of the FBI's
811:United States Marshals
324:Martin Luther King Jr.
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150:Georgia National Guard
72:4 wives (all divorced)
354:Later years and death
320:Civil Rights Movement
285:University of Alabama
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30:Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr.
138:United States Senate
87:Gary Thomas Rowe Jr.
332:the Communist Party
756:. The Evening News
545:The New York Times
488:The New York Times
414:May, Gary (2005).
122:Viola Gregg Liuzzo
99:agent provocateur
91:Thomas Neil Moore
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64:Thomas Neil Moore
37:Savannah, Georgia
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724:"Viola Liuzzo"
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52:(aged 64)
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758:. Retrieved
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732:the original
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381:Don Meredith
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305:Viola Liuzzo
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115:civil rights
107:Ku Klux Klan
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50:(1998-05-25)
48:May 25, 1998
786:1998 deaths
781:1933 births
248:Bull Connor
216:Bull Connor
775:Categories
760:2016-02-12
738:2016-02-12
709:2016-02-12
684:2016-02-12
613:2016-02-12
585:2016-02-12
558:2016-02-12
522:2016-02-12
501:2017-06-01
468:2017-06-01
394:References
289:James Hood
144:Background
111:COINTELPRO
553:0362-4331
496:0362-4331
383:as Rowe.
379:starring
95:informant
728:uudb.org
651:60796141
236:Anniston
117:groups.
101:for the
77:Children
608:NPR.org
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69:Spouse
647:OCLC
637:ISBN
549:ISSN
492:ISSN
330:and
291:and
152:and
97:and
45:Died
26:Born
326:'s
177:ATF
103:FBI
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