Not too long after being elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1970, then 29-year-old Bill Baxley re-opened the investigation of infamous 16th Street Baptist Church Church bombing case — a racially-charged act of terrorism that resulted in the death of four innocent African American girls in 1963.
Unsurprisingly, Baxley’s commitment to the case caused him to be on the receiving end of numerous death threats from the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, who accused him of reopening the case for purely political reasons.
One Klan leader in particular — Edward R. Fields, a proud white supremacist — received the following letter, typed on an official letterhead, as a response from Baxley in February 1976:
And here’s the full transcript of the letter:
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF ALABAMAFebruary 28, 1976
“Dr.” Edward R. Fields
National States Rights Party
P. O. Box 1211
Marietta, Georgia 30061Dear “Dr.” Fields:
My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is – kiss my ass.
Sincerely,
BILL BAXLEY
Attorney General
It would have been so boss if he had signed the letter, “Bill Baxley. Attorney General, BITCH.” But, we digress…
The year after “Dr.” Fields received his letter from Attorney General Baxley, a member of the United Klans of America named Robert Chambliss was found guilty of the murders of the four young black girls. He reportedly remained in prison until his death in 1985.
Hopefully, that “Dr. Fields” character is somewhere rotting in hell along with Chambliss.
[C&D via Letters of Note]
