Birmingham Church Bomber Denied Parole

| August 3, 2016 

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:339;s:4:"file";s:31:"2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:6:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Thomas_Blanton_Wide-336x190.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:190;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Thomas_Blanton_Wide-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:29:"Thomas_Blanton_Wide-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Thomas_Blanton_Wide-550x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:550;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Thomas_Blanton_Wide-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Thomas_Blanton_Wide-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:116849;s:14:"optimized_size";i:52943;s:7:"percent";d:54.689999999999998;}s:5:"sizes";a:8:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:24746;s:14:"optimized_size";i:8326;s:7:"percent";d:66.349999999999994;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-140x140.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:5677;s:14:"optimized_size";i:4168;s:7:"percent";d:26.579999999999998;}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-336x190.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:9174;s:14:"optimized_size";i:5101;s:7:"percent";d:44.399999999999999;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-600x338.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:21879;s:14:"optimized_size";i:8302;s:7:"percent";d:62.049999999999997;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:16897;s:14:"optimized_size";i:10366;s:7:"percent";d:38.649999999999999;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-550x311.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:18678;s:14:"optimized_size";i:6682;s:7:"percent";d:64.230000000000004;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-470x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:14989;s:14:"optimized_size";i:6417;s:7:"percent";d:57.189999999999998;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/08/Thomas_Blanton_Wide-125x125.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:4809;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3581;s:7:"percent";d:25.539999999999999;}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => Alabama Department of Corrections
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_rs_image_updated] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_edit_lock] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1593196515:26
        )

)
1655082317 
1470216282

Alabama’s parole board has decided against freeing a one-time Ku Klux Klansman convicted in a church bombing that killed four black girls more than 50 years ago.

The Wednesday decision to keep 78-year-old Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. imprisoned was met with applause at the hearing.

At the hearing, relatives of the girls spoke against Blanton’s release.

Blanton is the last surviving KKK member convicted of murder in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 for being part of a group of Klansmen who planted a bomb outside the church during the civil rights movement.

Two other former KKK members were convicted of murder and died behind bars.

Blanton can be considered for parole again in five years.

 

Trump warns a strike on Iran ‘could very well happen’ if no nuclear deal is signed

President Trump warned that a "massive" war could break out in the Middle East over Iran's nuclear program, after the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Iran wasn't complying with its nonproliferation duties.

Protests erupt in Kenya’s capital over blogger’s death in police custody

Demonstrators take to the streets in Kenya's capitol over the suspicious death of a popular blogger in police custody — a flashpoint of outrage in a country still reeling from last year's deadly crackdown on anti-tax protests.

Denounced by GOP lawmakers, blue state governors defend immigration policies

GOP lawmakers on Thursday blasted Democratic immigration policies as coddling violent criminals. Democrats portrayed Trump's escalating migrant sweeps as a dangerous assault on civil liberties.

A popular climate website will be hobbled, after Trump administration eliminates entire staff

Climate.gov is the main source of timely climate-related information for the public. It will stop publishing new information because the Trump administration laid off everyone who worked on it.

What led the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to crash in India with 242 people aboard?

"It just appears to me that the airplane is unable to climb," former NTSB investigator Jeff Guzzetti tells NPR. Several explanations could account for that, the aviation expert says.

In first-of-its-kind lawsuit, Hollywood giants sue AI firm for copyright infringement

Disney and Universal's 110-page lawsuit against Midjourney claims the AI player stole "countless" copyrighted works to train its software.

More Front Page Coverage