By JAY REEVES
FILE — In this May 1, 2001 file photo, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputies lead Thomas Blanton Jr., out of the courtroom in handcuffs after a jury convicted him of murder in Birmingham, Ala. This week marks the 50th anniversary of a racist church bombing that killed four black girls at a Birmingham church. A bomb detonated outside Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963, killing four girls. Three Ku Klux Klansmen were convicted in the bombing years later, and Blanton, the last surviving Klansman convicted in the blast, remains in prison. A corrections spokesman says the 83-year-old Blanton seldom has contact with other inmates at St. Clair prison near Springville, and it’s mostly by his own choice. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — On the 50th anniversary of a racist church bombing that killed four black girls at a Birmingham church, the last surviving Klansman convicted in the blast remains in prison.
A corrections spokesman says 83-year-old Thomas Blanton Jr. seldom has contact with other inmates at St. Clair prison near Springville, and it’s mostly by his own choice.
While Blanton lives in a one-man cell, he is allowed to spend time with other prisoners in a day room and go outside for exercise.
Prison spokesman Brian Corbett says Blanton does neither, spending most of his time alone.
A bomb detonated outside Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963, killing four girls.
Three Ku Klux Klansmen were convicted in the bombing years later, and only Blanton survives.
