Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. | |
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Born | June 20, 1930 |
Residence | St. Clair Correctional Facility Springville, Alabama |
Known for | Participant in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing |
Criminal charge | Murder |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
Parent(s) | Thomas Edwin "Pops" Blanton Sr. |
Motive | White supremacy |
Conviction(s) | Murder |
Partner(s) |
Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. (born June 20, 1930) was convicted in 2001 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The bombing killed four young African-American girls (Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Denise McNair). Blanton was thirty-three years old at the time of the bombing.
Blanton is the son of Thomas Edwin "Pops" Blanton Sr., who was a notorious racist in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Blanton was born on the same day as Bobby Frank Cherry, one of his co-conspirators.
Blanton was convicted of murder in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison, with the eventual possibility of parole.
He is housed at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama.
Blanton went before the parole board on August 3, 2016. Parole was denied.