September 22, 2022 • 38 mins
In 1998, James Byrd Jr. was murdered by a group of white supremacists in Jasper County, Texas. This week, Rasha and Yvette explain how this case was a wake up call to many, exposing the the stark reality of racism in modern America.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and
Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast
are solely those of the individuals participating in the show
and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV.
This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil from Tenderfoot TV
and iHeartRadio. We are your hosts. I'm Roscha Pequerrero.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
And I'm the Evet Gentila and here, as always, we're
with our producer, mister Trevor Young.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hi there. I hope you're surviving the heat. Everyone barely trying. Yeah,
it's bad, but it's just right after a labor day.
And I wanted to throw out one thing that I
did this past weekend. And I don't know if you
guys have ever been to anything like this, but I
went to a nerd con called dragon Con. It's in
(01:02):
Atlanta every year. Have you heard of it.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I wanted to ask you about this, and I'm so
happy that you brought it up because I saw it
in your stories and I'm like, what is dragon Con?
Please tell me all the things.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, So it's a con like comic Con or you know,
anything like that, but it is very different. It's more
of like a party. So instead of having like a
big expo haul with all these you know, companies and
Marvel and whoever, like showing whatever their new shows and
movies are, which is kind of like what comic Con
usually is. Instead, it's just like for the fans entirely,
(01:35):
so people dress up. It's like thousands and thousands of
people and it really consumes the entirety of downtown Atlanta
for like five days during Labor Day weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Wow, did you dress up?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah? I had. I had a few outfits. It's it's weird.
It's like you can go in normal clothes, but I
feel like you're missing out, a missing out on a
big part of the fun if you do that.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Right, So, what did you go as?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I only did two outfits that I kind of recyct
go throughout the weekend. One of them was a character
from the new movie Everything Everywhere, All at Once, which
is he's like a chef and he's like controlled by
a raccoon on his head. It's like a spoof of Retitui.
Oh right, right right, And then Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
Which is really easy. You just like wear a suit,
(02:18):
slick your hair back and put on a poncho.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Pictures or it didn't happen, Trevor. We need to see yo,
see your outfit changes.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, next year you guys are going to Dragon Con.
Let me make it happen. Maybe we can do a
live episode from Dragon Content.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Oh my god, that would be epic. Can't wait, Trevor,
mm hmm. So Trevor, with that, will you please take
us through today's case.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
In Texas and the trial of one of the man
chars with ragging to death a black man simply because
of his race. The testimony today was devastating. The suspect
racial hatred was so deep and threatening and well known
to his friends.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
When I found out that my dad was brutally killed
by three white supremacists, I was in denial.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I was the numb first.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
William Hoover, who served time in prison with King, testified
that King discussed abducting a black man and killing him
to win membership in a racist game.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
James Bird Junior was a forty nine year old black
man from Texas who was killed by three white supremacists
In nineteen ninety eight, in the early morning hours of
June seventh, James was walking home from his parents' house
in rural Jasper County after attending a bridal shower for
his niece. He was offered a ride by three white
(03:34):
men in a pickup truck, Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and
John King. The three men did not take Bird home. Instead,
they drove him to a logging road just outside of town,
where they beat and tortured James to death. Then they
left his lifeless body in front of a church. The
murder of James Burg Junior shocked the nation. Many had
(03:55):
believed that such brutal racial attacks like this were part
of its Jim crow erab past, and the case sparked
new conversations about lynchings and helped pave the way for
updated hate crimes legislation. And So, what happened to James
Bird Junior, How did his death serve as a wake
up call for the country, And what lessons about racism
(04:16):
and violence can we learn today from this difficult story.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So as a reminder, we briefly heard about the case
of James Bird Junior on the Matthew Shepherd episode. So
both cases involved a brutal killing, which were considered hate crimes.
They both happened in the same year, and they were
both included on a key piece of legislation.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
But unlike Matthew, this case has a key difference. We
all knew that prejudice thing gets gay people was a
thing back in the nineties, and that violence was a
very real possibility for queer people, but we didn't think
that lynchings were still happening. But sadly we learn that
lynchings are not a relic of the past in this country.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, unfortunately, no. And just quickly, when I think of
a lynching, right, I think of a racially motivated murder,
you know, I immediately picture those horrible you know photos
of you know, the KKK, or these horrible white perpetrators
(05:30):
who like basically celebrated these lynchings.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It just makes you sick to your stomach, like in
the pit of your stomach.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, and I think, I mean, honestly, this case kind
of does end up looking like that, and it is
one of many that still happens in today's modern era.
I mean, between eighteen eighty two and nineteen sixty eight,
the NAACP said that there were four thousand, seven hundred
and forty three reported lynchings in the United States and
(06:00):
just reported, so there were almost certainly even more than that.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, so I mean definitely not over. I mean, Trevor,
when I hear that, I think right away about Ahmud Aubrey,
the young man who was killed in twenty twenty, and
he was just you know, jogging through a white, affluent
neighborhood and this happened, you know, in Savannah, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and broad daylight, I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
In broad daylight twenty twenty. Here we are again.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, I mean, I know they classified a mad Arbory's
death as a lynching. They still do happen, even as
recently as twenty twenty. And I'm sure lots of things
we don't hear about even happening this year. So yeah,
that's why we're here talking about it.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, exactly. So let's talk about James Burr Junior. He
was a forty nine year old black man who was
born and raised in Jasper County, Texas. He came from
a religious family. His mother was a Sunday school teacher
and his father was a deacon. He graduated from high
school in nineteen sixty seven, and his school was the
(07:05):
last segregated graduating class in the entire high school. So,
you know, he grew up under the Jim Crow laws
in Texas. I can only imagine what that was like
for him and for so many others, you.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Know, coming from a small town like you know, Jasper, Texas,
where the population was only eight thousand, two hundred and
forty seven. I mean it's a small community.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, anyway, he ended up getting married and
he had three children with his wife, and he worked
as a vacuum salesman, and like many Americans at the time,
he struggled with alcoholism. In the nineteen nineties, he even
spent a brief period in jail for petty theft, and
(07:51):
during his time in jail, he and his wife got divorced.
He was released in nineteen ninety six, and at this
point he was basically in the pro of rebuilding his life.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Right, So at this point he's back in Jasper County
and he's in AA Alcoholics Anonymous, and according to one
report quote, his friends and family described him as a
friendly father and grandfather who was charismatic, musically talented, and generally.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Well liked, So this is where he's at on June seventh,
nineteen ninety eight. He's rebuilding his life. So on this
particular night, it was really late between two and three
in the morning, and he was walking home from his parents'
house and he had been attending a family bridal shower.
So that's when he was offered a ride home by
(08:39):
three white strangers in a pickup truck. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And he had, like you said, he had just come
from this party and I was watching the documentary and
like he was singing and dancing and like just having
like such a great time, you know, and decided to
leave and you know, walk home, you know, because again
they're in a small town, right. But a witness named
Steve Scott was driving home around that same time, and
(09:05):
he said that he saw Bird walking along Martin Luther
King Drive and a few minutes later he saw James again.
This time he was riding in the bed of a
pickup truck with three white men in the cab. So
maybe he knew these guys.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Maybe, but Steve Scott didn't realize the significance of what
he was seeing at the time. But Steve was the
last person ever to see James Bird Junior alive, and we'll.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Pick it up right after we take a quick break.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So James Bird Junior was familiar with one of the
three white men that offered him a ride home that night,
and so now that makes a little bit more sense
in my mind as to why he jumped in the
back of this particular pickup truck. So the man that
he knew was twenty three year old Sean Berry, who
happened to own the truck. With were John King who
(10:01):
was also twenty three, and thirty one year old Lawrence Brewer.
And we do know though, that the three men did
not drive James home that night, right.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I mean, as we said at the beginning of the episode,
they drove him out to a logging road just outside
of town and there they beat him, They defecated and
urinated on him, and then they chained him to the
truck by his ankles using a heavy logging chain and
that's when they started to drive. And they drove for
(10:35):
nearly three miles down Huff Creek Road, dragging James behind
his truck without stopping. So after about a mile and
a half, his body hit a culvert and that is
what eventually killed him. The three men took james remains
and then they left him right in front of a
(10:55):
predominantly black church.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
This is just so sickening. It's like, I don't even
have the words to think that this man was alive
while being dragged behind this truck for a mile and
a half.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, I mean we know that he didn't die until
he hit that colvert, So yeah, you know, for as
long as I took he was being essentially like tortured,
being dragged along the ground for that long. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
And you know, there was there was a documentary that
I was watching with his oldest daughter, Renee, and she's like,
you know, my dad was so strong, she was saying,
because you know he was he was literally trying to
hold his elbows, you know, up from the ground like
he was. He was trying, you know, to save himself.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, but he couldn't.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
It's just horrible.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
I mean, I've known about what happened to James, but
even just hearing you say that word for word, Tchever,
it it like, you know, it puts a pit in
your stomach right, like you just you feel just so sick.
And you know, the one ironic fact that you did mention, Trevor,
is that they did leave. You know, James's remains at
(12:07):
a predominantly black church, and that church was Hoff Creek
Memorial Chapel. And this church was actually the last remaining
anchor site of the Huff Creek community, which was what
was called or what was known as a freedom community
for black people after the Civil War. And so the
residents of this community were all former slaves and they
(12:30):
built their own homes, their own businesses, their own schools,
and their own churches. And they did that all using
the very limited resources that they had. And freedom communities
existed all over the South, and they were places for
black people to exist and thrive safely, and they were
(12:53):
usually located in relatively unsafe places during those decades of terror,
places like for County, Texas. And by nineteen ninety eight,
there was essentially just this one church that was left
and that was the only remnant of that legacy, and
that's where his body was left.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Do y all think that was on purpose? Do you
think they did this as a as a kind of slight.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
You know, there's a part of me that absolutely thinks,
you know, that it was on purpose. You know, you
could say it was a sad irony, but I believe
someone in that truck knew what they were doing.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, I mean, if nothing else, it says a lot
about the politics of you know, Jasper County and the
kind of history that has taken place there. Right, you
have like two sides of an issue that have been
going on for decades are that are both very much alive.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
There's a rich racist history in Jasper County, Texas, at
least that's what it seems like.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah. And then also resilience towards that racism. Yeah, yes,
right now, both the racism and the resilience are both
there in full effect by this nineties. Still, so moving on,
they left James Bird's remains, and then the three men,
James Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King left to go
to a barbecue, and James Bird's body was later found
(14:20):
that morning by a driver who was passing by. So
authorities then started to search the area, and they found
a bunch of items strewn about the area belonging both
to James and to his murders. They find a lighter
with the word possum inscribed on it, and apparently that
was King's prison nickname. They also find a wrench that
(14:43):
has Barry's name on it, and Barry was the truck driver.
So then at the end of the logging road they
find an apparent scene of a fight or beating. It
was like some sort of kind of indent in the
grass or something like that where you could tell some
sort of scuffle it happened. The grass was like matted down,
and in that kind of matted area they find a
(15:04):
cigarette lighter engraved with the words possum and also KKK,
as well as another tool with Barry's name on it.
And then they find three cigarette butts, beer bottles, a
whole bunch of things from that truck, and then a
button from James Bird shirt and his baseball caps. So,
I mean, if you're a police officer, this is a
(15:24):
pretty obvious scene.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Right, Yeah, yeah, this is this is a slam dunk
because these guys were not very good at covering up
their tracks. But it makes me wonder if they were
even trying. And that's what I was saying earlier, right,
It's like it seems like they definitely, or at least
one of them knew what they were doing, you know,
(15:45):
to James Bird. So I know that during this time,
people in the area are starting to hear about the crime,
and this man, Steve Scott, walks in and you talked
about Steve Scott earlier Russia, right, the witness, the witness exactly,
And again my thought goes back to somebody in that
(16:06):
truck deliberately knew what.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
They were doing. They weren't trying to cover it up
very much.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
No, they were not trying to cover it up.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And around that same time police also happened to stop
Sean Berry for a traffic violation. So inside Sean's truck
they find a crucial piece of evidence, a set of
tools matching the wrench that was found at the end
of the logging road. So they arrest Berry and confiscate
the truck, and then they find more. They find blood
(16:38):
spatters underneath the truck and on one of its tires,
matching James Bird's DNA, and then in the truck bed
they find blood on a spare tire, which is also
a match. And then finally in the truck bed itself
there's a rust stain forming in the pattern of a chain.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Right, So there's all this evidence mounting here, and these
guys are also really outspoken white supremacists.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
They don't hide it.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
They're not hiding it. It's like it's like when a
you know, a gang member does a hit, and this
is the biggest gang the KKK. Somebody out of the
three of them is trying to make a statement.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah. Yeah, So this goes back to your theory of
it that you know, one or all of them knew
what they were doing when they killed jamespur Junior. So
after they arrest them, they kind of start to learn
all of these things about them which prove that they
very much intended to do this and had very racist
leanings that would motivate them to do so. So two
(17:41):
of these guys, Lawrence Brewer John King, according to documents,
John King, who was twenty three, refused to go into
a black person's home and would even leave a party
if a black individual arrived at said party. Wow. And
in prison he was known as quote the Exalted Cyclops
of the Confederate Knights America. I mean, wow, the bell's
(18:02):
going off. Yeah, right, So obviously that's a white supremacist gang.
And then Brewer is also associated with a another white
supremacy group. In prison, both of them have their bodies
covered in racist tattoos, incorporating both KKK and Nazi imagery,
and so understandably, the FBI quickly deems that James Burr
(18:26):
Junior's death is a hate crime.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yes, absolutely right, absolutely, no doubt this is a hate crime.
But I also want to point out something in their
court photos, where you know, they're all cleaned up. They
look perfectly normal, right, They're trying to appear perfectly normal,
like ordinary guys, which makes me think of how people
who commit acts of racism, I mean, from small acts
(18:51):
to atrocious ones like this one, you know, and this
was horrible, beyond horrible. They don't necessary look like TV villains.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Right, but what does evil look like? Right?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Like?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
What does that look like like? I'm sure they were
wearing suits that were covering up all of their racist
tattoos or tatts and everything. Yeah, yeah, what do you think, Trevor.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean, obviously they can hide it if they need
to for a court appearance and whatever else. But I mean,
I guess the point maybe to be made there is that,
you know, really racism can be found anywhere, and even
in places you don't expect it.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So shifting gears a little bit. So
these three guys were all roommates. So they were roommates who,
as you know you pointed out Evett, apparently could not
cover up a crime to save their lives, or they
were doing that on purpose. We don't really, they didn't
want to, or they didn't want to. And police end
(19:49):
up searching their apartment and still they find even more evidence. So,
I mean, this is going to be a surprise to
no one. But they found racist drawings and writing made
by King, and more crucially, they find their clothing and
their shoes that they were wearing the night that this
all happened, and DNA analysis reveals that the jeans and
(20:11):
boots worn by Barry that night were stained with blood
matching James Bird Junior's DNA. And then there's another very
large piece of evidence. A friend of the three men
told police that the men hung out behind his trailer
a lot, and when they searched that area behind the trailer,
they found the twenty four foot logging chain that matched
(20:34):
the rust imprint in Sean Berry's truck bed.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Geez, god, you know, I think about this in nineteen
ninety eight, and I was thinking about where I was living,
and I was in Oregon, and you know, my dad
was living in Oregon as well. And just the fact
that this was happening in nineteen ninety eight was beyond
(20:58):
anything that we could even call brehend. You know, this
was through and through torture.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I do think the one maybe silver lining to this
taking place in a slightly more modern context like nineteen
ninety eight is that even though you wouldn't expect something
like this to happen in this time, one thing that's
different is that you're a lot more likely to see consequence. Yes, right, right,
So these people are very quickly identified, they're captured, they
(21:27):
are sent to prison, right like, They face consequences pretty fast.
Whereas you know, in Jim Crow.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Era that might yeah, yeah, I mean you would have
had probably a very racist, all white jury police force
that would have done whatever it took to see these
guys to either get off or maybe even avoid getting arrested.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
In very true, very true, Trevor. They got on this
right away.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, And that was the silver lining. And so you know,
the three men are indicted together on capital murder charges.
But as the trial begins, crucial cracks begin to form
between the three roommates. Cracks that would impact the rest
of their lives.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, it gets a little bit dramatic, and we'll talk
about that right after we take another quick break.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
So the trial for the lynching of James Bird Junior
begins February nineteen ninety nine, and one of the first
questions asked I have to ask you this, Trevor, is
why can you take us through this one? I mean,
we know that they're white supremacists, but what moved them
(22:38):
to commit this heinous? Heinous act?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I mean, look, I am never going to try and
empathize or get in the mind of a violent, murderous racist,
but we do know like what they were planning based
off of their writings and things that they had told
other people. So those writings that they found in John
King's apartment were very important, according to the prosecution. They
(23:04):
included plans for a new hate group that he was
trying to form and recruit for. So the murder was
supposedly his big sort of dramatic act that he would
use to attract media attention and bring in new members
who would want to join his group.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Oh so gross. So this jury had something else to consider.
So Sean Berry, the roommate of these two write supremacists
and the man who owned the pickup truck that dragged
James Bird Junior. He had made a statement to police,
and here's what he said, that John King had not
wanted to pick up James Bird because he was black,
(23:43):
but then King changed his mind. So Barry said that
King was the one who drove the truck to that
isolated area, and that Brewer and King, not him, were
the ones who got out and began beating Bird, eventually
chaining him to the back of the truck.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So he puts it all on the other two right,
right as a bystander. Okay, yeah, right, what a great friend.
But this just reminds me, and we can go back
to the Matthew Shepherd case. How one of his two killers,
which was Russell Henderson, basically said it was the other guy.
So it's the same thing happening all over again.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, so somebody else throwing them under the.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Bus, right, but they're all responsible.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, I mean that said apparently in this case. You know,
Sean Berry is supposedly the only one who's not like
a vowed white supremacist, right, most people don't see him
that way. He doesn't have any sort of weird letters
or plans or manifestos to like start a white supremacist
group like the other guys do. So it's possible somehow
(24:46):
he just ended up along for the ride the night
this night, and you know, the other two took the
lead in the violence, you know, and just kind of
going back to Matthew Shepherd, I mean, that was kind
of a thing for real that night that Aaron McKinney
was the one calling the shots, so to speak, right, right,
And I think maybe that is actually a thing that
(25:06):
happens in these kind of group dynamics where there's this
sort of you know, group violence that takes place where
one or two people are the ones who are really
the driving aggressors, if you will, right, right, So, I
don't think it's impossible, but it definitely starts to create
rifts in this group as a result. Right.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
And to me, though, like I mean, I think we
can all three agree that it doesn't make him any
less guilty because he let it happen, right, But yes,
you're right, like he wasn't the you know, white supremacist
that we know of, but he didn't stop it. Like, yeah,
he might have made this statement, but he didn't do
(25:46):
anything to stop it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Well, Also keep in mind it was his truck, right.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Right, right, that bears his responsibility and his liability, right.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And I mean generally though, it suggest that he was
the one driving, you know, even if he says he wasn't.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Right, but he so knew James too.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's probably why James felt comfortable getting in that truck.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Hello, That's what I'm saying. You know, why would he
get into a truck on a dark road walking home
if he didn't know the people.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
With three white men in Jasper, Texas.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, it's not like he's unaware of racial prejudice and
where he's living, right.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, Barry's a weird character in the story because he
I mean, he knew what they were going to do
and he went along with it anyways, So right, I
don't know, it seems like he put James Bird Junior
in harm's way, either neglectfully or intentionally. And at the
end of the day, I mean, I doubt anybody here
has a ton of sympathy for him or where he
(26:41):
ends up.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
No, I'm sorry, I knew not.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
I was watching this documentary and it's called The Life
and tragic death of James Bird, and it was on
Amazon Prime and one of the women you know, from
that community in Jasper was being interviewed. She knew the
family very well, and she said that, you know, James,
you know, was likable. He didn't have anybody that hated him.
(27:05):
And she felt like if it would have been anybody
black like walking the streets that night, that it possibly
could have happened. She said, it could have happened to me,
you know, and that was that was interesting. So when
we go back to you know, white supremacist, you know,
I think that there is that possibility that they were
(27:28):
just you know, or the other guy was just out
to pick up a black person and do this to them,
and James Bird happened to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Yeah, So let's talk about the trial. So the jury
heard from a forensic pathologist with some kind of chilling testimony,
And if you're listening, we're about to get into some
gruesome details of the murder itself. So if you are
sensitive to that sort of thing, I'd recommend you skip
ahead about thirty to forty five seconds. So doctor Thomas J.
(28:01):
Brown testified that James Bird Junior was indeed alive while
being dragged behind the pickup truck, and that he was
quote suffering horribly and vainly trying to save himself as
he was dragged along by the chain attached to his ankles,
and so parts of his body were also so severely
mutilated from the dragging that they were ground to the bone,
(28:21):
and James apparently felt every second of it because he
was still alive. So doctor Brown told the court that, quote,
it is my opinion that mister Bird was alive up
until the point that he hit the culvert. He was
alive when the head, shoulder, and right arm were separated. Wow.
So of course that happened when he hit the colvert,
(28:41):
which is basically just like a roadside ditch, about halfway
through that three mile ordeal, and then he was essentially
kind of bisected at that point.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
It's a lot, yeah, you know, and like I said earlier,
I mean, he was fighting for his life until he
couldn't anymore.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I mean before we dove into this case, you know.
Of course, you know, we learned a little bit about
it when we did the Matthew Shepherd episode. But all
I had ever heard, like a news or Metea or
anything was that. You know, James Bird Junior was dragged
behind a truck and decapitated, and it's like, it's so
(29:21):
much worse than that. And to think that someone or
some people could do that just because of the color
of his skin makes me sick to my stomach. And
that's you know, that's why we're here. We're trying to
shine a light on that darkness. But who HiT's a
(29:41):
lot to stomach, It's a whole lot to stomach. Meanwhile,
John King is unrepentant, and police detectives say that he
had spent his time in jail writing racist graffiti and
he even wrote on his door the words and this
is a quote, Sean Berry is a snitch ash trader
(30:05):
end quote. He also writes a note to Brewer in
prison that ends up getting intercepted, and in this note
he says he's proud of the crime, although he realized
he quote might have to die for it end quote.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
He never truly confessed though, right.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
No, this was not a confession, and he didn't testify
at the nineteen ninety nine trial, although in a letter
to the press he put a bunch of things on
Sean Berry claiming that Barry picked up Bird to buy
steroids from him, and that Barry then dropped King and
Brewer off at their apartment and then left again with Bird,
just the two of them. In this letter, he claims
(30:45):
that he and Brewer are being stereotyped for quote the
pride we openly express for our race end quote. So yeah,
he pleads not guilty in the trial, although that note
is bizarre, but the one about Sean Berry not making
any sense. Nothing in the alibis of all three men
would suggest that any of that information is true. And
(31:06):
then the note suggesting that he's going to have to
die for the crime that he did is somehow not
considered a confession, but I don't know what It's some
interesting stuff going on. Still, though the three of them
are charged with murder, and King and Brewer get death sentences.
Both were executed by a lethal injection, Brewer in twenty
(31:27):
eleven and King in twenty nineteen. Barry, on the other hand,
was sentenced to life in prison and his parole is
set for twenty thirty eight. One interesting thing is that
many of James Burge Junior's family members were opposed to
the death sentences. They did not want his murders to
be killed by lethal injection. And they were very outspoken
(31:49):
about this.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yeah, they were, and they are. And not only were
they opposed, James's son actively campaigned against his father's murder
is receiving the death penalty, and his daughter, Renee and
other family members denounced it so loudly. And in twenty eleven,
after Brewer was executed, James's sister, Betty Boehner told CNN
(32:14):
that she quote forgave him thirteen years ago end quote.
At this time, James's son actually joined anti execution protests, saying, quote,
you can't fight murder with murder. That's pretty amazing that
their family is that forgiving, in that passionate about trying
(32:36):
to save lives, even when their their father's life was
taken from them.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah. I think if I was going through that sort
of grief, I don't know if I'd have that sort
of you know, levelheadedness or not. You know, obviously, like
my brain says, like, you know, capital punishment is bad,
But if I was actually going through that, like my
emotions would be like screaming at me to like get
revenge essentially, you know, right, So it's pretty fun nominal
that they can get past that in this moment.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
I just have to say one thing. You know, his
family was very deep in the church, and I think
their faith and their religion and God, you know, was
a huge thing in this because you know, you can't
fight hate with hate, right.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. It's interesting. In two
thousand and three, which is about five years after their
dad's murder, James Bird's son and daughter actually went to
go meet Sean Berry in prison and talk to him
about their dad and the murder and everything that went down.
So whereber Sean Berry's in prison for life at this point,
(33:40):
He's probably not getting executed, but he does have parole
in like fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's that far away. Ross
Bird said that he told Sean Berry quote, you should
have helped end quote. And they ended up praying together,
and he said, quote when I walked in the building,
that's the first thing he did. He wanted to pray.
(34:06):
And you know, I respect him for that. I respect
him for saying that he was sorry. End quote.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
That's such a powerful act of forgiveness. The Bird family
has endured such immense pain. Again, we can't even comprehend,
you know, but to walk into that prison and pray
with this man is you know, that is the silver lining.
(34:33):
And forgive and forgive and forgive.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, yeah, another silver lining that came from this horrible crime.
You know, as we talked about in the Matthew Shepherd episode.
In October of two thousand and nine, then President Barack
Obama signed the Matthew Shepherd and James Bird Junior Hate
Crimes Prevention Act into federal law, and this law expanded
(34:56):
hate crime legislation to also include crimes based on sexual orientation,
gender identity, or disability.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Also, in Jasper, Texas, they had a graveyard that was
still segregated back then, and after this horrific act happened,
they took down that fence and so there was no
more division between white and black.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
So that was that was huge as well. That's absolutely beautiful,
and that brings us to this week's emua, our final
message of hope and healing. We'd like to dedicate this
week's emua to the ohana or the family of James
(35:45):
Bird Junior. In the years since her father's unjust death.
One of James's daughter's Renee Mullins has become an advocate
for hate crimes legislation, and she and her brother, Ross
Bird are still fighting the death penalty even in cases
that feel unforgivable. Also, James's other daughter, Jamie, has become
(36:07):
a police officer in Houston, Texas and has written a
book titled Triumph Over Tragedy.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
It is said that when you hold on to bitterness
and anger, those emotions only end up turning against you
and against all odds. James Byrd's family they found fortitude,
and they found a grace that turned their sorrow into
a fight for change, and that source of that fight
(36:36):
is love and forgiveness.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
This horrific murder never should have happened. They should not
have lost their father, their brother, their son, their friend.
But they have taken that loss and that hurt and
turned it into something so beautiful and so much larger
than themselves. And for this we honor them on and upward.
(37:01):
Em Emua.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Well, that is our show for today, and we'd love
to hear what you thought about today's discussion And if
there is a case you'd like us to cover, find
us on social media or email us at Facingevil Pod
at Tenderfoot dot tv and one request. If you haven't already,
please find us on iTunes and give us a review
(37:27):
and a good rating. If you like what we do,
your support is always cherished until next time.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Aloha.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and tenderfoot TV.
The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero in a Vet Schintila,
Matt Frederick, and Alex Williams, our executive producers on behalf
of iHeartRadio, with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk, Donald
albright In Payne Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of
(38:12):
Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Claudia Dafrico.
Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on
social media or email us at Facing Evil pod at
tenderfoot dot tv. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
(38:35):
to your favorite shows
You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and
Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast
are solely those of the individuals participating in the show
and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV.
This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable
for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil from Tenderfoot TV
and iHeartRadio. We are your hosts. I'm Roscha Pequerrero.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
And I'm the Evet Gentila and here, as always, we're
with our producer, mister Trevor Young.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hi there. I hope you're surviving the heat. Everyone barely trying. Yeah,
it's bad, but it's just right after a labor day.
And I wanted to throw out one thing that I
did this past weekend. And I don't know if you
guys have ever been to anything like this, but I
went to a nerd con called dragon Con. It's in
(01:02):
Atlanta every year. Have you heard of it.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I wanted to ask you about this, and I'm so
happy that you brought it up because I saw it
in your stories and I'm like, what is dragon Con?
Please tell me all the things.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, So it's a con like comic Con or you know,
anything like that, but it is very different. It's more
of like a party. So instead of having like a
big expo haul with all these you know, companies and
Marvel and whoever, like showing whatever their new shows and
movies are, which is kind of like what comic Con
usually is. Instead, it's just like for the fans entirely,
(01:35):
so people dress up. It's like thousands and thousands of
people and it really consumes the entirety of downtown Atlanta
for like five days during Labor Day weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Wow, did you dress up?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah? I had. I had a few outfits. It's it's weird.
It's like you can go in normal clothes, but I
feel like you're missing out, a missing out on a
big part of the fun if you do that.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Right, So, what did you go as?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I only did two outfits that I kind of recyct
go throughout the weekend. One of them was a character
from the new movie Everything Everywhere, All at Once, which
is he's like a chef and he's like controlled by
a raccoon on his head. It's like a spoof of Retitui.
Oh right, right right, And then Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
Which is really easy. You just like wear a suit,
(02:18):
slick your hair back and put on a poncho.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Pictures or it didn't happen, Trevor. We need to see yo,
see your outfit changes.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, next year you guys are going to Dragon Con.
Let me make it happen. Maybe we can do a
live episode from Dragon Content.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Oh my god, that would be epic. Can't wait, Trevor,
mm hmm. So Trevor, with that, will you please take
us through today's case.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
In Texas and the trial of one of the man
chars with ragging to death a black man simply because
of his race. The testimony today was devastating. The suspect
racial hatred was so deep and threatening and well known
to his friends.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
When I found out that my dad was brutally killed
by three white supremacists, I was in denial.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I was the numb first.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
William Hoover, who served time in prison with King, testified
that King discussed abducting a black man and killing him
to win membership in a racist game.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
James Bird Junior was a forty nine year old black
man from Texas who was killed by three white supremacists
In nineteen ninety eight, in the early morning hours of
June seventh, James was walking home from his parents' house
in rural Jasper County after attending a bridal shower for
his niece. He was offered a ride by three white
(03:34):
men in a pickup truck, Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and
John King. The three men did not take Bird home. Instead,
they drove him to a logging road just outside of town,
where they beat and tortured James to death. Then they
left his lifeless body in front of a church. The
murder of James Burg Junior shocked the nation. Many had
(03:55):
believed that such brutal racial attacks like this were part
of its Jim crow erab past, and the case sparked
new conversations about lynchings and helped pave the way for
updated hate crimes legislation. And So, what happened to James
Bird Junior, How did his death serve as a wake
up call for the country, And what lessons about racism
(04:16):
and violence can we learn today from this difficult story.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So as a reminder, we briefly heard about the case
of James Bird Junior on the Matthew Shepherd episode. So
both cases involved a brutal killing, which were considered hate crimes.
They both happened in the same year, and they were
both included on a key piece of legislation.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
But unlike Matthew, this case has a key difference. We
all knew that prejudice thing gets gay people was a
thing back in the nineties, and that violence was a
very real possibility for queer people, but we didn't think
that lynchings were still happening. But sadly we learn that
lynchings are not a relic of the past in this country.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, unfortunately, no. And just quickly, when I think of
a lynching, right, I think of a racially motivated murder,
you know, I immediately picture those horrible you know photos
of you know, the KKK, or these horrible white perpetrators
(05:30):
who like basically celebrated these lynchings.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It just makes you sick to your stomach, like in
the pit of your stomach.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, and I think, I mean, honestly, this case kind
of does end up looking like that, and it is
one of many that still happens in today's modern era.
I mean, between eighteen eighty two and nineteen sixty eight,
the NAACP said that there were four thousand, seven hundred
and forty three reported lynchings in the United States and
(06:00):
just reported, so there were almost certainly even more than that.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, so I mean definitely not over. I mean, Trevor,
when I hear that, I think right away about Ahmud Aubrey,
the young man who was killed in twenty twenty, and
he was just you know, jogging through a white, affluent
neighborhood and this happened, you know, in Savannah, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and broad daylight, I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
In broad daylight twenty twenty. Here we are again.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, I mean, I know they classified a mad Arbory's
death as a lynching. They still do happen, even as
recently as twenty twenty. And I'm sure lots of things
we don't hear about even happening this year. So yeah,
that's why we're here talking about it.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, exactly. So let's talk about James Burr Junior. He
was a forty nine year old black man who was
born and raised in Jasper County, Texas. He came from
a religious family. His mother was a Sunday school teacher
and his father was a deacon. He graduated from high
school in nineteen sixty seven, and his school was the
(07:05):
last segregated graduating class in the entire high school. So,
you know, he grew up under the Jim Crow laws
in Texas. I can only imagine what that was like
for him and for so many others, you.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Know, coming from a small town like you know, Jasper, Texas,
where the population was only eight thousand, two hundred and
forty seven. I mean it's a small community.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, anyway, he ended up getting married and
he had three children with his wife, and he worked
as a vacuum salesman, and like many Americans at the time,
he struggled with alcoholism. In the nineteen nineties, he even
spent a brief period in jail for petty theft, and
(07:51):
during his time in jail, he and his wife got divorced.
He was released in nineteen ninety six, and at this
point he was basically in the pro of rebuilding his life.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Right, So at this point he's back in Jasper County
and he's in AA Alcoholics Anonymous, and according to one
report quote, his friends and family described him as a
friendly father and grandfather who was charismatic, musically talented, and generally.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Well liked, So this is where he's at on June seventh,
nineteen ninety eight. He's rebuilding his life. So on this
particular night, it was really late between two and three
in the morning, and he was walking home from his parents'
house and he had been attending a family bridal shower.
So that's when he was offered a ride home by
(08:39):
three white strangers in a pickup truck. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And he had, like you said, he had just come
from this party and I was watching the documentary and
like he was singing and dancing and like just having
like such a great time, you know, and decided to
leave and you know, walk home, you know, because again
they're in a small town, right. But a witness named
Steve Scott was driving home around that same time, and
(09:05):
he said that he saw Bird walking along Martin Luther
King Drive and a few minutes later he saw James again.
This time he was riding in the bed of a
pickup truck with three white men in the cab. So
maybe he knew these guys.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Maybe, but Steve Scott didn't realize the significance of what
he was seeing at the time. But Steve was the
last person ever to see James Bird Junior alive, and we'll.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Pick it up right after we take a quick break.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So James Bird Junior was familiar with one of the
three white men that offered him a ride home that night,
and so now that makes a little bit more sense
in my mind as to why he jumped in the
back of this particular pickup truck. So the man that
he knew was twenty three year old Sean Berry, who
happened to own the truck. With were John King who
(10:01):
was also twenty three, and thirty one year old Lawrence Brewer.
And we do know though, that the three men did
not drive James home that night, right.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I mean, as we said at the beginning of the episode,
they drove him out to a logging road just outside
of town and there they beat him, They defecated and
urinated on him, and then they chained him to the
truck by his ankles using a heavy logging chain and
that's when they started to drive. And they drove for
(10:35):
nearly three miles down Huff Creek Road, dragging James behind
his truck without stopping. So after about a mile and
a half, his body hit a culvert and that is
what eventually killed him. The three men took james remains
and then they left him right in front of a
(10:55):
predominantly black church.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
This is just so sickening. It's like, I don't even
have the words to think that this man was alive
while being dragged behind this truck for a mile and
a half.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, I mean we know that he didn't die until
he hit that colvert, So yeah, you know, for as
long as I took he was being essentially like tortured,
being dragged along the ground for that long. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
And you know, there was there was a documentary that
I was watching with his oldest daughter, Renee, and she's like,
you know, my dad was so strong, she was saying,
because you know he was he was literally trying to
hold his elbows, you know, up from the ground like
he was. He was trying, you know, to save himself.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, but he couldn't.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
It's just horrible.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
I mean, I've known about what happened to James, but
even just hearing you say that word for word, Tchever,
it it like, you know, it puts a pit in
your stomach right, like you just you feel just so sick.
And you know, the one ironic fact that you did mention, Trevor,
is that they did leave. You know, James's remains at
(12:07):
a predominantly black church, and that church was Hoff Creek
Memorial Chapel. And this church was actually the last remaining
anchor site of the Huff Creek community, which was what
was called or what was known as a freedom community
for black people after the Civil War. And so the
residents of this community were all former slaves and they
(12:30):
built their own homes, their own businesses, their own schools,
and their own churches. And they did that all using
the very limited resources that they had. And freedom communities
existed all over the South, and they were places for
black people to exist and thrive safely, and they were
(12:53):
usually located in relatively unsafe places during those decades of terror,
places like for County, Texas. And by nineteen ninety eight,
there was essentially just this one church that was left
and that was the only remnant of that legacy, and
that's where his body was left.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Do y all think that was on purpose? Do you
think they did this as a as a kind of slight.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
You know, there's a part of me that absolutely thinks,
you know, that it was on purpose. You know, you
could say it was a sad irony, but I believe
someone in that truck knew what they were doing.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, I mean, if nothing else, it says a lot
about the politics of you know, Jasper County and the
kind of history that has taken place there. Right, you
have like two sides of an issue that have been
going on for decades are that are both very much alive.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
There's a rich racist history in Jasper County, Texas, at
least that's what it seems like.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah. And then also resilience towards that racism. Yeah, yes,
right now, both the racism and the resilience are both
there in full effect by this nineties. Still, so moving on,
they left James Bird's remains, and then the three men,
James Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King left to go
to a barbecue, and James Bird's body was later found
(14:20):
that morning by a driver who was passing by. So
authorities then started to search the area, and they found
a bunch of items strewn about the area belonging both
to James and to his murders. They find a lighter
with the word possum inscribed on it, and apparently that
was King's prison nickname. They also find a wrench that
(14:43):
has Barry's name on it, and Barry was the truck driver.
So then at the end of the logging road they
find an apparent scene of a fight or beating. It
was like some sort of kind of indent in the
grass or something like that where you could tell some
sort of scuffle it happened. The grass was like matted down,
and in that kind of matted area they find a
(15:04):
cigarette lighter engraved with the words possum and also KKK,
as well as another tool with Barry's name on it.
And then they find three cigarette butts, beer bottles, a
whole bunch of things from that truck, and then a
button from James Bird shirt and his baseball caps. So,
I mean, if you're a police officer, this is a
(15:24):
pretty obvious scene.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Right, Yeah, yeah, this is this is a slam dunk
because these guys were not very good at covering up
their tracks. But it makes me wonder if they were
even trying. And that's what I was saying earlier, right,
It's like it seems like they definitely, or at least
one of them knew what they were doing, you know,
(15:45):
to James Bird. So I know that during this time,
people in the area are starting to hear about the crime,
and this man, Steve Scott, walks in and you talked
about Steve Scott earlier Russia, right, the witness, the witness exactly,
And again my thought goes back to somebody in that
(16:06):
truck deliberately knew what.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
They were doing. They weren't trying to cover it up
very much.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
No, they were not trying to cover it up.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And around that same time police also happened to stop
Sean Berry for a traffic violation. So inside Sean's truck
they find a crucial piece of evidence, a set of
tools matching the wrench that was found at the end
of the logging road. So they arrest Berry and confiscate
the truck, and then they find more. They find blood
(16:38):
spatters underneath the truck and on one of its tires,
matching James Bird's DNA, and then in the truck bed
they find blood on a spare tire, which is also
a match. And then finally in the truck bed itself
there's a rust stain forming in the pattern of a chain.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Right, So there's all this evidence mounting here, and these
guys are also really outspoken white supremacists.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
They don't hide it.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
They're not hiding it. It's like it's like when a
you know, a gang member does a hit, and this
is the biggest gang the KKK. Somebody out of the
three of them is trying to make a statement.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah. Yeah, So this goes back to your theory of
it that you know, one or all of them knew
what they were doing when they killed jamespur Junior. So
after they arrest them, they kind of start to learn
all of these things about them which prove that they
very much intended to do this and had very racist
leanings that would motivate them to do so. So two
(17:41):
of these guys, Lawrence Brewer John King, according to documents,
John King, who was twenty three, refused to go into
a black person's home and would even leave a party
if a black individual arrived at said party. Wow. And
in prison he was known as quote the Exalted Cyclops
of the Confederate Knights America. I mean, wow, the bell's
(18:02):
going off. Yeah, right, So obviously that's a white supremacist gang.
And then Brewer is also associated with a another white
supremacy group. In prison, both of them have their bodies
covered in racist tattoos, incorporating both KKK and Nazi imagery,
and so understandably, the FBI quickly deems that James Burr
(18:26):
Junior's death is a hate crime.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yes, absolutely right, absolutely, no doubt this is a hate crime.
But I also want to point out something in their
court photos, where you know, they're all cleaned up. They
look perfectly normal, right, They're trying to appear perfectly normal,
like ordinary guys, which makes me think of how people
who commit acts of racism, I mean, from small acts
(18:51):
to atrocious ones like this one, you know, and this
was horrible, beyond horrible. They don't necessary look like TV villains.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Right, but what does evil look like? Right?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Like?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
What does that look like like? I'm sure they were
wearing suits that were covering up all of their racist
tattoos or tatts and everything. Yeah, yeah, what do you think, Trevor.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean, obviously they can hide it if they need
to for a court appearance and whatever else. But I mean,
I guess the point maybe to be made there is that,
you know, really racism can be found anywhere, and even
in places you don't expect it.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So shifting gears a little bit. So
these three guys were all roommates. So they were roommates who,
as you know you pointed out Evett, apparently could not
cover up a crime to save their lives, or they
were doing that on purpose. We don't really, they didn't
want to, or they didn't want to. And police end
(19:49):
up searching their apartment and still they find even more evidence. So,
I mean, this is going to be a surprise to
no one. But they found racist drawings and writing made
by King, and more crucially, they find their clothing and
their shoes that they were wearing the night that this
all happened, and DNA analysis reveals that the jeans and
(20:11):
boots worn by Barry that night were stained with blood
matching James Bird Junior's DNA. And then there's another very
large piece of evidence. A friend of the three men
told police that the men hung out behind his trailer
a lot, and when they searched that area behind the trailer,
they found the twenty four foot logging chain that matched
(20:34):
the rust imprint in Sean Berry's truck bed.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Geez, god, you know, I think about this in nineteen
ninety eight, and I was thinking about where I was living,
and I was in Oregon, and you know, my dad
was living in Oregon as well. And just the fact
that this was happening in nineteen ninety eight was beyond
(20:58):
anything that we could even call brehend. You know, this
was through and through torture.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I do think the one maybe silver lining to this
taking place in a slightly more modern context like nineteen
ninety eight is that even though you wouldn't expect something
like this to happen in this time, one thing that's
different is that you're a lot more likely to see consequence. Yes, right, right,
So these people are very quickly identified, they're captured, they
(21:27):
are sent to prison, right like, They face consequences pretty fast.
Whereas you know, in Jim Crow.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Era that might yeah, yeah, I mean you would have
had probably a very racist, all white jury police force
that would have done whatever it took to see these
guys to either get off or maybe even avoid getting arrested.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
In very true, very true, Trevor. They got on this
right away.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, And that was the silver lining. And so you know,
the three men are indicted together on capital murder charges.
But as the trial begins, crucial cracks begin to form
between the three roommates. Cracks that would impact the rest
of their lives.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, it gets a little bit dramatic, and we'll talk
about that right after we take another quick break.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
So the trial for the lynching of James Bird Junior
begins February nineteen ninety nine, and one of the first
questions asked I have to ask you this, Trevor, is
why can you take us through this one? I mean,
we know that they're white supremacists, but what moved them
(22:38):
to commit this heinous? Heinous act?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I mean, look, I am never going to try and
empathize or get in the mind of a violent, murderous racist,
but we do know like what they were planning based
off of their writings and things that they had told
other people. So those writings that they found in John
King's apartment were very important, according to the prosecution. They
(23:04):
included plans for a new hate group that he was
trying to form and recruit for. So the murder was
supposedly his big sort of dramatic act that he would
use to attract media attention and bring in new members
who would want to join his group.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Oh so gross. So this jury had something else to consider.
So Sean Berry, the roommate of these two write supremacists
and the man who owned the pickup truck that dragged
James Bird Junior. He had made a statement to police,
and here's what he said, that John King had not
wanted to pick up James Bird because he was black,
(23:43):
but then King changed his mind. So Barry said that
King was the one who drove the truck to that
isolated area, and that Brewer and King, not him, were
the ones who got out and began beating Bird, eventually
chaining him to the back of the truck.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So he puts it all on the other two right,
right as a bystander. Okay, yeah, right, what a great friend.
But this just reminds me, and we can go back
to the Matthew Shepherd case. How one of his two killers,
which was Russell Henderson, basically said it was the other guy.
So it's the same thing happening all over again.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, so somebody else throwing them under the.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Bus, right, but they're all responsible.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, I mean that said apparently in this case. You know,
Sean Berry is supposedly the only one who's not like
a vowed white supremacist, right, most people don't see him
that way. He doesn't have any sort of weird letters
or plans or manifestos to like start a white supremacist
group like the other guys do. So it's possible somehow
(24:46):
he just ended up along for the ride the night
this night, and you know, the other two took the
lead in the violence, you know, and just kind of
going back to Matthew Shepherd, I mean, that was kind
of a thing for real that night that Aaron McKinney
was the one calling the shots, so to speak, right, right,
And I think maybe that is actually a thing that
(25:06):
happens in these kind of group dynamics where there's this
sort of you know, group violence that takes place where
one or two people are the ones who are really
the driving aggressors, if you will, right, right, So, I
don't think it's impossible, but it definitely starts to create
rifts in this group as a result. Right.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
And to me, though, like I mean, I think we
can all three agree that it doesn't make him any
less guilty because he let it happen, right, But yes,
you're right, like he wasn't the you know, white supremacist
that we know of, but he didn't stop it. Like, yeah,
he might have made this statement, but he didn't do
(25:46):
anything to stop it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Well, Also keep in mind it was his truck, right.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Right, right, that bears his responsibility and his liability, right.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And I mean generally though, it suggest that he was
the one driving, you know, even if he says he wasn't.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Right, but he so knew James too.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's probably why James felt comfortable getting in that truck.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Hello, That's what I'm saying. You know, why would he
get into a truck on a dark road walking home
if he didn't know the people.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
With three white men in Jasper, Texas.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, it's not like he's unaware of racial prejudice and
where he's living, right.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, Barry's a weird character in the story because he
I mean, he knew what they were going to do
and he went along with it anyways, So right, I
don't know, it seems like he put James Bird Junior
in harm's way, either neglectfully or intentionally. And at the
end of the day, I mean, I doubt anybody here
has a ton of sympathy for him or where he
(26:41):
ends up.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
No, I'm sorry, I knew not.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
I was watching this documentary and it's called The Life
and tragic death of James Bird, and it was on
Amazon Prime and one of the women you know, from
that community in Jasper was being interviewed. She knew the
family very well, and she said that, you know, James,
you know, was likable. He didn't have anybody that hated him.
(27:05):
And she felt like if it would have been anybody
black like walking the streets that night, that it possibly
could have happened. She said, it could have happened to me,
you know, and that was that was interesting. So when
we go back to you know, white supremacist, you know,
I think that there is that possibility that they were
(27:28):
just you know, or the other guy was just out
to pick up a black person and do this to them,
and James Bird happened to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Yeah, So let's talk about the trial. So the jury
heard from a forensic pathologist with some kind of chilling testimony,
And if you're listening, we're about to get into some
gruesome details of the murder itself. So if you are
sensitive to that sort of thing, I'd recommend you skip
ahead about thirty to forty five seconds. So doctor Thomas J.
(28:01):
Brown testified that James Bird Junior was indeed alive while
being dragged behind the pickup truck, and that he was
quote suffering horribly and vainly trying to save himself as
he was dragged along by the chain attached to his ankles,
and so parts of his body were also so severely
mutilated from the dragging that they were ground to the bone,
(28:21):
and James apparently felt every second of it because he
was still alive. So doctor Brown told the court that, quote,
it is my opinion that mister Bird was alive up
until the point that he hit the culvert. He was
alive when the head, shoulder, and right arm were separated. Wow.
So of course that happened when he hit the colvert,
(28:41):
which is basically just like a roadside ditch, about halfway
through that three mile ordeal, and then he was essentially
kind of bisected at that point.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
It's a lot, yeah, you know, and like I said earlier,
I mean, he was fighting for his life until he
couldn't anymore.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I mean before we dove into this case, you know.
Of course, you know, we learned a little bit about
it when we did the Matthew Shepherd episode. But all
I had ever heard, like a news or Metea or
anything was that. You know, James Bird Junior was dragged
behind a truck and decapitated, and it's like, it's so
(29:21):
much worse than that. And to think that someone or
some people could do that just because of the color
of his skin makes me sick to my stomach. And
that's you know, that's why we're here. We're trying to
shine a light on that darkness. But who HiT's a
(29:41):
lot to stomach, It's a whole lot to stomach. Meanwhile,
John King is unrepentant, and police detectives say that he
had spent his time in jail writing racist graffiti and
he even wrote on his door the words and this
is a quote, Sean Berry is a snitch ash trader
(30:05):
end quote. He also writes a note to Brewer in
prison that ends up getting intercepted, and in this note
he says he's proud of the crime, although he realized
he quote might have to die for it end quote.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
He never truly confessed though, right.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
No, this was not a confession, and he didn't testify
at the nineteen ninety nine trial, although in a letter
to the press he put a bunch of things on
Sean Berry claiming that Barry picked up Bird to buy
steroids from him, and that Barry then dropped King and
Brewer off at their apartment and then left again with Bird,
just the two of them. In this letter, he claims
(30:45):
that he and Brewer are being stereotyped for quote the
pride we openly express for our race end quote. So yeah,
he pleads not guilty in the trial, although that note
is bizarre, but the one about Sean Berry not making
any sense. Nothing in the alibis of all three men
would suggest that any of that information is true. And
(31:06):
then the note suggesting that he's going to have to
die for the crime that he did is somehow not
considered a confession, but I don't know what It's some
interesting stuff going on. Still, though the three of them
are charged with murder, and King and Brewer get death sentences.
Both were executed by a lethal injection, Brewer in twenty
(31:27):
eleven and King in twenty nineteen. Barry, on the other hand,
was sentenced to life in prison and his parole is
set for twenty thirty eight. One interesting thing is that
many of James Burge Junior's family members were opposed to
the death sentences. They did not want his murders to
be killed by lethal injection. And they were very outspoken
(31:49):
about this.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yeah, they were, and they are. And not only were
they opposed, James's son actively campaigned against his father's murder
is receiving the death penalty, and his daughter, Renee and
other family members denounced it so loudly. And in twenty eleven,
after Brewer was executed, James's sister, Betty Boehner told CNN
(32:14):
that she quote forgave him thirteen years ago end quote.
At this time, James's son actually joined anti execution protests, saying, quote,
you can't fight murder with murder. That's pretty amazing that
their family is that forgiving, in that passionate about trying
(32:36):
to save lives, even when their their father's life was
taken from them.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah. I think if I was going through that sort
of grief, I don't know if I'd have that sort
of you know, levelheadedness or not. You know, obviously, like
my brain says, like, you know, capital punishment is bad,
But if I was actually going through that, like my
emotions would be like screaming at me to like get
revenge essentially, you know, right, So it's pretty fun nominal
that they can get past that in this moment.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
I just have to say one thing. You know, his
family was very deep in the church, and I think
their faith and their religion and God, you know, was
a huge thing in this because you know, you can't
fight hate with hate, right.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. It's interesting. In two
thousand and three, which is about five years after their
dad's murder, James Bird's son and daughter actually went to
go meet Sean Berry in prison and talk to him
about their dad and the murder and everything that went down.
So whereber Sean Berry's in prison for life at this point,
(33:40):
He's probably not getting executed, but he does have parole
in like fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's that far away. Ross
Bird said that he told Sean Berry quote, you should
have helped end quote. And they ended up praying together,
and he said, quote when I walked in the building,
that's the first thing he did. He wanted to pray.
(34:06):
And you know, I respect him for that. I respect
him for saying that he was sorry. End quote.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
That's such a powerful act of forgiveness. The Bird family
has endured such immense pain. Again, we can't even comprehend,
you know, but to walk into that prison and pray
with this man is you know, that is the silver lining.
(34:33):
And forgive and forgive and forgive.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, yeah, another silver lining that came from this horrible crime.
You know, as we talked about in the Matthew Shepherd episode.
In October of two thousand and nine, then President Barack
Obama signed the Matthew Shepherd and James Bird Junior Hate
Crimes Prevention Act into federal law, and this law expanded
(34:56):
hate crime legislation to also include crimes based on sexual orientation,
gender identity, or disability.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Also, in Jasper, Texas, they had a graveyard that was
still segregated back then, and after this horrific act happened,
they took down that fence and so there was no
more division between white and black.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
So that was that was huge as well. That's absolutely beautiful,
and that brings us to this week's emua, our final
message of hope and healing. We'd like to dedicate this
week's emua to the ohana or the family of James
(35:45):
Bird Junior. In the years since her father's unjust death.
One of James's daughter's Renee Mullins has become an advocate
for hate crimes legislation, and she and her brother, Ross
Bird are still fighting the death penalty even in cases
that feel unforgivable. Also, James's other daughter, Jamie, has become
(36:07):
a police officer in Houston, Texas and has written a
book titled Triumph Over Tragedy.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
It is said that when you hold on to bitterness
and anger, those emotions only end up turning against you
and against all odds. James Byrd's family they found fortitude,
and they found a grace that turned their sorrow into
a fight for change, and that source of that fight
(36:36):
is love and forgiveness.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
This horrific murder never should have happened. They should not
have lost their father, their brother, their son, their friend.
But they have taken that loss and that hurt and
turned it into something so beautiful and so much larger
than themselves. And for this we honor them on and upward.
(37:01):
Em Emua.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Well, that is our show for today, and we'd love
to hear what you thought about today's discussion And if
there is a case you'd like us to cover, find
us on social media or email us at Facingevil Pod
at Tenderfoot dot tv and one request. If you haven't already,
please find us on iTunes and give us a review
(37:27):
and a good rating. If you like what we do,
your support is always cherished until next time.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Aloha.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and tenderfoot TV.
The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero in a Vet Schintila,
Matt Frederick, and Alex Williams, our executive producers on behalf
of iHeartRadio, with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk, Donald
albright In Payne Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of
(38:12):
Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Claudia Dafrico.
Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on
social media or email us at Facing Evil pod at
tenderfoot dot tv. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
(38:35):
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