Jonathan Daniels, 1939-1965
The Murder and The Trial
A paper written by Jonathan Daniels read by the Reverend William J. Wolf at Daniels’ funeral service, August 24, 1965.
Article published in The Southern Courier regarding the trial of Thomas Coleman, the man who shot and killed Jonathan Daniels, October 3-4, 1965. By permission of The Southern Courier.
After his release on August 20, Daniels, Richard Morrisroe (a Roman Catholic priest), and two African American civil rights workers approached a small grocery store to purchase a cold drink. At the entrance to the store, a man wielding a shotgun challenged them. He ordered them away and then began firing. Morrisroe was wounded, and Jonathan Daniels was killed.
His alleged killer, a former deputy sheriff, was charged with manslaughter. Claiming self-defense, Thomas Coleman insisted that Daniels and Morrisroe had threatened him with a knife and a gun. A trial ensued, and although the population of the community was largely African American, Coleman was tried and acquitted by an all-white jury. Jonathan Daniels was the twenty-sixth civil rights worker killed in the South. [Sources]
Jonathan Daniels' family at his funeral; Jonathan's mother is in the center, 1965.
At Jonathan Daniels' funeral, more than a thousand mourners paid their respects, 1965.
Mourners at Jonathan Daniel's funeral departing the church, 1965.
A group gathers and, holding hands, prays near the gravesite. Stokely Carmichael is second from left, facing the camera, 1965.