Something Serious Has Happened on Air Force One (a Tl/story by Geon)

[Geon]

Elsewhere in Selma, Governor Wallace had been preparing for his next meeting with Dr. King. Officially he had been in Selma to address the local Chamber of Commerce. The meeting had been cancelled once the riot had started. The governor knew that given the situation any meeting with Dr. King now was impossible. And he was not one bit happy about it.

He was sharing his unhappiness now with Selma’s mayor. “I am running on a platform of law and order, and that idiot you have as a police chief has to let a full-fledged riot start during my visit. How is that going to look to the press?”

The mayor responded, “Governor Wallace, I think the blame partially rests with the demonstrators at least given...” He never got to finish the sentence.

“Those demonstrators had a legal right to demonstrate. As I understand it, they had applied for and received a permit to do so. It is also my understanding that the chief of police had been invited to a meeting by Dr. King and the owner of the Woolworth’s store to discuss security plans for the march and refused to attend, sending only a representative,” said the angry governor.

“Furthermore, whatever preparations the chief of police made were to put it mildly inadequate at best! It seems to me that he wanted to see violence break out,” the governor continued.

Before the mayor could speak up the governor declared, “This is what we are going to do Mr. Mayor. First, I have ordered the Alabama National Guard to send a contingent of troops into this city to maintain order. Secondly, you will release Dr. King and all the leaders of the march. Only if there is incontrovertible evidence that they incited any of the violence may they remain in custody. Thirdly, I will be asking the state legislature effective tomorrow to start an investigation into the conduct of the officers who participated in the so-called security arrangements during today’s fiasco. Fourth, any officer who was found to be negligent will be dismissed from the force and brought up on charges of aiding and abetting civil disorder. And last, but certainly not least, I expect the chief of police’s resignation on your desk no later than tomorrow evening. This is not going to stand for one moment, am I clear?”

The mayor wanted to object. But this was the governor. If he so ordered, the investigations could be expanded to include his office. And if he was found negligent, he could face charges as well. The mayor realized he had very little to bargain with and simply said, “Yes Governor Wallace.”

 

[DeltaEnterprise252]

Excuse me @Geon, I don't want to sound impolite but I think you accidentally repeated the sentence "Elsewhere in Selma, Governor Wallace had been preparing for his next meeting with Dr. King. Officially he had been in Selma to address the local Chamber of Commerce. The meeting had been cancelled once the riot had started. The governor knew that given the situation any meeting with Dr. King now was impossible. And he was not one bit" twice.

 

[marktaha]

Wasn't there a sheriff in Selma rather than a police chief?

 

[NHBL]

Great scene. Of course the chief might refuse to resign. Who can fire him?

 

[Ogrebear]

Wallace on the Warpath!

Get out of his way Mr Mayor…

 

[Prince Charon]

Great scene. Of course the chief might refuse to resign. Who can fire him?

Probably the mayor, maybe Governor Wallace. Of course, if the 'chief' is actually an elected sheriff, that could complicate the matter, but I'm sure that there are rules and precedents for removing an elected sheriff who has been shown to be negligent and/or malicious.

 

[LAHistorian15]

Probably the mayor, maybe Governor Wallace. Of course, if the 'chief' is actually an elected sheriff, that could complicate the matter, but I'm sure that there are rules and precedents for removing an elected sheriff who has been shown to be negligent and/or malicious.

Maybe he will be “forcefully resigned” or something like that.

 

[NHBL]

Probably the mayor, maybe Governor Wallace. Of course, if the 'chief' is actually an elected sheriff, that could complicate the matter, but I'm sure that there are rules and precedents for removing an elected sheriff who has been shown to be negligent and/or malicious.

If it's an elected sheriff, it will get VERY messy. Soutehrn sheriffs have real power, at least in some states. My understanding is that a sheriff can be the most powerful man in the county in some cases. (In New England, a sheriff might have the authority to blow his own nose. Sneezing requires the OK of the local town government.
If it's a police chief, it will depend on the contract. If it goes to court, good luck finding a jury that won't support the cops.
I'd love to see the cops, and hopefully the chief, brought up in criminal charges. It would set a great precedent, that cops can be charged, tried, and convicted for wrongdoing.
I never thought I'd be siding with Wallace and Hoover, let alone in the same timeline! (Not that I particularly care for the Kennedy clan)

One thing that would be worth investigating, if trying to discredit people with regard to civil rights: The Kennedys tried to get the Freedom Riders to stop, since they were "embarrassing the United States." Come primary and election time, that brush could be used to tar some of Kennedy's allies. I know it would have made me think long and hard about supporting a candidate.

 

[Prince Charon]

Worrisome thought: The chief and another officer or two are brought up on charges, some Alabama police go on strike, and the Texas police unions strike in sympathy.

 

[LAHistorian15]

Worrisome thought: The chief and another officer or two are brought up on charges, some Alabama police go on strike, and the Texas police unions strike in sympathy.

Wallace is then seen in an even worse light than before.

 

[NHBL]

Worrisome thought: The chief and another officer or two are brought up on charges, some Alabama police go on strike, and the Texas police unions strike in sympathy.

And an optomistic one: If they do that, the fact that the cops will do anything to avoid being called to account for crimes they perpetrate will gain traction, and a backlash ensues.

 

[marktaha]

If it's an elected sheriff, it will get VERY messy. Soutehrn sheriffs have real power, at least in some states. My understanding is that a sheriff can be the most powerful man in the county in some cases. (In New England, a sheriff might have the authority to blow his own nose. Sneezing requires the OK of the local town government.
If it's a police chief, it will depend on the contract. If it goes to court, good luck finding a jury that won't support the cops.
I'd love to see the cops, and hopefully the chief, brought up in criminal charges. It would set a great precedent, that cops can be charged, tried, and convicted for wrongdoing.
I never thought I'd be siding with Wallace and Hoover, let alone in the same timeline! (Not that I particularly care for the Kennedy clan)

One thing that would be worth investigating, if trying to discredit people with regard to civil rights: The Kennedys tried to get the Freedom Riders to stop, since they were "embarrassing the United States." Come primary and election time, that brush could be used to tar some of Kennedy's allies. I know it would have made me think long and hard about supporting a candidate.

Sheriff Jim.Clark of Selma voted out in 1966.

 

[NHBL]

Sheriff Jim.Clark of Selma voted out in 1966.

It may well be impossible to get him out of office easily, short of an impeachment--or arresting him while he's still sheriff. Even if people want him out, he could use the law to make it messy, and as a bully ppulpit to proclaim is fiction about the "rioters" being on the point of turing into a vicious mob.

 

[marktaha]

As I said he was voted out .

 

[Geon]

One hour after being lectured by Governor Wallace the mayor was speaking with Sherriff Jim Clark, the present chief law enforcement officer in Selma.

“You were supposed to provide protection to the marchers. Instead, we have a full-fledged riot break out, what happened," the mayor demanded?

“We just do not have the manpower to cover ever part of the city for something like this,” answered Jim Clark.

“Don’t lie to me Jim. We both know you had the manpower and to spare for this. Did you want something like this to happen," asked Mayor Smithson?

“No sir,” replied Jim Clark. “Sir, the owner of the Woolworth store is an acquaintance of mine. My men like to eat there often. And from what I heard he was justified in taking out his gun when one of them damn yahoos decided to pull out his. But once shots were exchanged there is no way on God’s good Earth that anyone could have stopped what happened next. From what I understand those marchers were as much responsible for what happened…”

“We had multiple news crews covering what happened,” interrupted the mayor. “I’ve already seen the footage and so has Governor Wallace. The footage seems to clearly show who were the real instigators here.”

“The Governor” queried Jim Clark? “You’ve already spoken to him?”

“He was in here personally not more than an hour ago. And he is not happy. Jim, he’s running on a law-and-order platform and now we have four people dead, and dozens injured in his own state. How is that going to make him look,” the mayor said getting up and pacing around the office?

“With respect Joe you shouldn’t have even sanctioned this damn march to begin with. You were just giving these damn D…….s” a chance to stir up trouble!" The chief of police said this forgetting himself for a moment.

“The reason these people are here,” Mayor Smithson responded heatedly, “Is to support one of our own businessmen, who is white I will remind you, who because he was willing to open his store to the black community had his store firebombed for his trouble. Many of those in that march were white!”

Before Sherriff Clark could speak up the mayor continued, “And what in the world possessed you to have him arrested? The man is only trying to be a good citizen and protect himself and one of your people has him arrested for and I quote ‘brandishing a firearm in public? What about the man who was aiming at Dr. King? And don’t deny that someone was. We have two witnesses in the crowd and three in the march who saw that man take a bead on King ready to shoot. My God Clark do you want Selma to go up in flames?”

Before Sherriff Clark could reply, Mayor Joseph Smithson continued, “Is there any credible evidence of any wrongdoing by either Dr. King or any of the other leaders of the march,” the mayor asked?

Sherriff Clark after a moment said, “No Mister Mayor.”

“All right, I want you to release Dr. King, the Woolworth’s owner, and the other leaders of the march. You are to apologize to them, personally, and you are to start an immediate investigation of why your men were not at their posts. Afterword you and I need to discuss your political future in this town,” the mayor concluded.

"Don’t go there Smithson. You want to take me down you might have more than you can handle,” the Sherriff said with a touch of threat in his voice. “We’ve had a good relationship for a couple of years now. Don’t let this turn us against each other.”

The mayor sighed. “Look Jim, we need to be honest with each other and face facts here. Wallace is going to be sending the National Guard into Selma starting tonight. I’m going to have to declare a curfew starting later this evening. There’s also a potential investigation by the Alabama Attorney General, not to mention the F.B.I. is going to be coming down her to investigate. If the governor wants to, he can have the Guard here for a long period of time. That and the investigation is not going to make either of us look good with the folks of Selma come election time.”

After several moments the Sherriff sighed. “All right, I’ll do it. I’m not one bit happy about it, but if it will get the Guard out of here faster, I’ll play nice here.”

The mayor smiled and said simply “Thanks Jim.”

Sherriff Jim Clark straightened his shoulders and said, “And you’ll have my resignation on your desk first thing tomorrow. My second-in-command can take over as Sherriff until the next elections.”

The mayor was surprised at the offer especially since he hadn’t brought the issue of resignation up. Jim continued, “It doesn’t take a genius to guess that our Governor wants a sacrificial lamb, and it looks like it’s me. This way you get to keep your job and the good Governor can repair some of the damage to his campaign.”

 

[Ogrebear]

Rather magnanimous move by the Sheriff here - perhaps he'll go into politics later with those instincts.

"I want you to release Dr. King, the Woolworth’s owner, and the other leaders of the march." - what is the Woolworth's owners name?

First couple of paragraphs might have missing speech marks.

 

[Geon]

Thanks for the catch @Ogrebear . Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the Woolworth owner. Given there was a Woolworth in every major town of any size back in the 50's and 60's I am certain Selma had one. However, unlike previous timelines I don't feel comfortable slapping a fictional name on the owner and then having to go back later because a native or someone else knew who the actual owner was.

 

[Geon]

Chapter 25: After the Smoke Clears​

The next morning the newspapers around the nation would be proclaiming the bloody events that occurred in Selma, Alabama.

FOUR DEAD IN SELMA RIOT – The New York Times

SELMA’S SHAME – The Washington Post

And in Montgomery, Alabama a newspaper declared:

PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION DISTRUPTED BY AGITATORS

Sheriff Resigns

----------​

In Washington, D.C. J. Edgar Hoover, and Robert Kennedy met in a private meeting with President McCormack.

“I’m afraid this is only the beginning Mister President,” said Hoover. “My sources are telling me we can expect attacks like what happened at Grace Baptist Church and yesterday in Selma to become more frequent as we draw closer to election time.”

Kennedy shook his head. “And we haven’t even seen the worst of it yet. We’ve got recruiters on college campuses up north trying to recruit more students to go down south to help with voter registration. And the thought of a second northern invasion won’t be sitting well with some of these people.”

President McCormack sighed, “This is what I was afraid of. A Wallace presidential bid is causing the violence in the south to escalate. Add in King’s announcement of an accelerated drive to register voters and a perceived ‘northern invasion’ and I agree with Mr. Hoover, things are bound to get worse before the elections,”

Kennedy felt he had to speak up. “Mr. President, this would not be a problem if you had not decided to table the Civil Rights Bill. King feels he needs to get the black vote out for this election now more than ever. Maybe you should reconsider.”

President McCormack rose from his desk and looked out the Oval Office windows behind him. “It’s not that easy Bobby. If I bring up the Civil Rights Bill now; first, there’s some doubt we could get it through Congress at this point. Secondly, if we do manage to get it through its libel to cause more violence as it will be assumed that we’re caving into King and his people.”

J. Edgar Hoover spoke up, “So, we’re between a rock and a hard place here. We table the bill and there’ll be violence we try to get the bill passed and there’ll be violence.”

“That’s pretty much a good summation Mr. Hoover,” said McCormack. “If L.B.J. had lived we might have had a chance of getting the bill through Congress and if was passed in a timely manner, I don’t think we would have the problems we are having now. But this is what we must deal with right now gentlemen. Like it or not, I suspect we are in for a very long and bloody time of it.”

---------​

In a private home in Montgomery, Alabama Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also considering the idea of more northern college students volunteering to come south. Speaking to other leaders of the Selma March Dr. King said, “I don’t think so many northern young people coming south to offer their services in our various sit-ins and with voter registration is necessarily good for us.”

“But why Martin? Heck we can use all the help we can get,” declared the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“Because those young people coming here will only throw gasoline on the fire Jesse. We’ve already seen the warnings, in Selma and outside Montgomery at Grace Baptist Church. Eleven people dead so far Jesse. And the year hasn’t even decently begun yet. I’m afraid that before November rolls around we’re looking at more violence. We’ve already had eleven martyrs. I don’t want more on my conscience.

After a moment Dr. King said, “I am going to make a public statement requesting young people to not come south to volunteer to help us. Things are just too unsettled right now. Better they should work to improve things in their own communities then come down here and possibly face violence. Things are just too volatile now.”

--------​

The Selma Riot footage would be seen on television for days to come. It would spark outrage throughout the nation. There were calls for Federal troops to be sent into Alabama in Congress.

Investigations would be launched by local, state, and federal governments into the riot. It surprised no one that when the local investigation’s report came out later that year it was inconclusive. The state and federal investigations which would be wound up in Decembers, 1964 and February 1965 respectively placed the blame on agitators within the crowd and ineffectual police presence. Both would recommend an overhaul of the Selma police department.

The owner of the Woolworth store would eventually reopen with his lunch counter open to everyone.

Former Sherriff Jim Clark would be called before the investigation boards in Selma, Montgomery, and Washington. While the state and federal investigations found him culpable. He would be found “not guilty" of multiple conspiracy charges in court in 1966.

 

[VB.rainer]

George Wallace is in for a rough time. By taking aggressive action, he's gonna lose some support from his white Southern base, but it may be too little too late in the eyes of the rest of America, which could potentially ruin his chances in the primaries, let alone the presidency.

Honestly though, a pro-civil rights Wallace presidency is the most blursed idea I've seen on this site, and I love it.

 

[NHBL]

He would be found “not guilty" of multiple conspiracy charges in court in 1966.

That last is, IMVHO, catastrophic, at least if people see it as a whitewash and a travesty of justice. Police being seen as immune to conviction will keep tension between police and ordinary people up there. Dallas has already forced the release of some cops by threatening action.
(If the Feds didn't screw up and drop the charges, if evidence comes up, they can still be taken back into custody.)