Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers

Revisiting an historic civil rights–era cold case, a retired officer of the Birmingham Police Department lauds the persistent efforts of police detective Ben Herren and FBI special agent Bill Fleming in reopening the investigation into the deadly September 15, 1963, bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and ultimately bringing the two surviving culprits to justice. Picking up the trail again after over 30 years, the relentless sleuths must contend with a dearth of living witnesses (many had died in the intervening decades), and the fact that only two suspects—Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton—were still alive. In recounting Herren and Fleming’s investigation, Thorne examines the legacy of racism and resistance in Birmingham, from Bull Connor’s brutal policing methods to violent Klansmen and Reverend Shuttlesworth’s coalition of activist black churches. He also reveals the surprisingly effective efforts of white bigots determined to thwart the FBI’s inquiry into the bombings. Herren’s interview with one of the bombers, and the subsequent trials of Blanton and Cherry, are truly gripping. Thorne’s story is a stunning reminder of just how tough the fight for freedom—and justice—really is. (Sept.)