Bryant Bowles
Bryant Bowles | |
---|---|
Drug trafficking | |
Criminal penalty | Texas Life imprisonment Florida 30 years imprisonment |
Bryant William Bowles Jr. (March 4, 1920 – April 13, 1997) was a
Bowles joined the
During the latter half of 1954, Bowles held rallies and gave speeches in several different states. At one such rally Bowles is reported to have said that his daughter "will never attend a school with
Nevertheless, Bowles tried to hold more rallies in Maryland and Pennsylvania, he was threatened with criminal charges. Segregationists were wary of his propensity for violence and suspected him of being an opportunist, and his record for fraud and forgery drew attention. Bowles further alienated himself from other segregationists when he attacked Jews, whom he described as "alien to the white race", and accused of its "spoiling, looting, and defilement."[3]
On May 3, 1958, while living near Beaumont, Texas, Bowles fatally shot his brother-in-law, James Earl Harvey, following a family dispute turned violent. Harvey had gotten into an argument with Bowles's pregnant wife, Elma Lois Bowles, whom he slapped.[4] Elma threatened to have her husband kill Harvey, after which he replied that he was ready to fight him, and had wanted to do so for some time. Mrs. Bowles called her husband, who was on a business trip in Chicago, and he returned to Texas the following day, driving 18 hours. After talking with his wife, Bowles took his shotgun and drove with her to Harvey's home. Bowles confronted Harvey on his porch and shot him. Harvey died of his injuries the following day. Bowles and Elma were both arrested and charged with murder.[5] Bowles pleaded self-defense, claiming that Harvey always carried a knife, had tried to grab a gun. However, these arguments were rejected, and he was found guilty of murder with malice. The prosecution sought a death sentence, but the jury instead imposed a life sentence.[6] The conviction was upheld on appeal. Elma was also found guilty of murder, but only received a 5-year suspended sentence.[7]
Bowles was
References
- Hartnett, Maurice A., III. The Delaware Judiciary in the 20th Century. Delaware Lawyer (Delaware Bar Foundation), Winter 1999/2000, Vol. 17, No. 4. PDF file Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Lardner, Richard; and Stanley, Doug. Killers among Heroes. The Tampa Tribune, December 11, 2005. Cached copy This is the main source for biographical details in this article. Note that the original link to Tampa Tribune website is no longer valid.
- Willoughby, B. (2004). The United States, circa 1954. Teaching Tolerance, (25), 47. Cited by Terhune, Carol in "From Desegregation to Diversity: How Far Have We Really Come?", Journal of Nursing Education, May 2004, Vol. 43, No. 5. Second source for the "gunpowder" quotation. [1]
References
- ^ Annonces, Vieilles (August 15, 2009), Bryant Bowles, President of NAAWP Arrested for 1st Degree Murder - Jet Magazine, June 19, 1958, retrieved August 10, 2023
- ^ Spark, Washington Area (October 5, 1954), White supremacists gains recruits in Maryland: 1954, retrieved August 10, 2023
- ISSN 0002-7162.
- ^ "Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965, September 01, 1958, Image 15 « Georgia Historic Newspapers". gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Bowles v. State". Justia Law. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ Zuber, Jerry (October 30, 1958). "The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 30, 1958". The Portal to Texas History. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ a b "Bryant Williams Bowles, Jr., Appellant, v. the State of Texas, Appellee, 366 F.2d 734 (5th Cir. 1966)". Justia Law. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Article clipped from The Palm Beach Post". The Palm Beach Post. June 23, 1980. p. 20. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Article clipped from The Palm Beach Post". The Palm Beach Post. October 10, 1978. p. 1. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Article clipped from The Palm Beach Post". The Palm Beach Post. September 4, 1976. p. 48. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Article clipped from The Palm Beach Post". The Palm Beach Post. July 15, 1978. p. 1. Retrieved August 10, 2023.