Answer: The Klan in Mississippi, in particular, was after a 24-year-old New Yorker named Michael Schwerner. He’d been especially active in organizing local boycotts of biased businesses and helping with voter registration. On June 16, acting on a tip, a mob of armed KKK members descended on a local church meeting looking for him. Schwerner wasn’t there, so they torched the church and beat the churchgoers.
Explanation:
In the end, the Klan’s homicidal ways backfired. The murders galvanized the nation and provided impetus for the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2.
- Mississippi Burning Case Records
