Murder of Oneal Moore

{{Infobox person

| name = Oneal Moore

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = April 23, 1931

| birth_place = Louisiana, U.S.

| death_date = June 2, 1965 (aged 34)

| death_place = Varnado, Louisiana, U.S.

| other_names =

| occupation = Deputy sheriff, Washington Parish Sheriff's Office

| years_active = More than one

| known_for = First African-American deputy sheriff in the parish; murdered by suspected white supremacists

| children = 4

| notable_works =

}}

Oneal Moore (April 23, 1931 – June 2, 1965) was the first African-American deputy sheriff for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office in Varnado, Louisiana. He was murdered on June 2, 1965, by alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan in a drive-by shooting, one year and a day after his landmark appointment as deputy sheriff. An Army veteran, he was 34 years old, married, and the father of four daughters.

Events

The evening of June 2, 1965, Moore was driving home from work when an individual in a pickup truck shot at him and his partner, David Creed Rogers, another African-American deputy sheriff. Moore lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree, dying instantly from a gunshot wound to the head.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-26-na-deputies26-story.html |title=Answers Elusive in 1965 Slaying |last=Serrano |first=Richard A. |date=2002-06-26 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2017-08-14 |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035}} Rogers suffered injuries, including to one eye, but survived the shooting and crash; he immediately broadcast a description of the vehicle, which he noted had a Confederate flag decal on its front bumper.{{Cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2009/deputy-sheriffs-murder-still-unsolved |title=DEPUTY SHERIFF'S MURDER STILL UNSOLVED |last=Keller |first=Larry |date=May 29, 2009 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=2017-08-13}}

Two suspects were arrested in Mississippi not long afterward. One was Ernest Ray McElveen, a known white supremacist. McElveen was represented by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attorney Osier Brown. He later also represented the two men charged with Clarence Triggs' murder the following year in 1966.{{cite news

|title=Bogalusa Murder Suspects Bonded

|newspaper=Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana)

|date=August 17, 1966

|page=9

|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/227768459/?terms=%22homer%2Br.%2Bseale%22}} The police filed no charges due to a lack of evidence and witnesses.

The cold case was reopened by the FBI several times, first in 1990, then in 2001 and 2007, but they did not bring indictments.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6699925.stm BBC - FBI reopens file on race hate murders] McElveen, the prime suspect in the case, died in 2003.

The Deacons for Defense and Justice, an African-American group with a chapter organized in 1965 in Bogalusa, Louisiana, among other chapters, to protect civil rights workers, provided armed protection and support for Moore's widow and family.[https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/tag/ernest-ray-mcelveen/ Alison Shay, "On This Day: The Courage of Deputies Moore and Rogers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126103216/https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/tag/ernest-ray-mcelveen/ |date=2016-01-26 }}, 2 June 2012, The Long Civil Rights Movement website

References

External links

{{cite web |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/9566-deputy-sheriff-oneal-moore |title=Deputy Sheriff Oneal Moore, Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, Louisiana |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc |access-date=22 October 2021}}

Category:1931 births

Category:1965 deaths

Category:1965 murders in the United States

Category:American police officers killed in the line of duty

Category:Deaths by firearm in Louisiana

Category:Deaths by person in Louisiana

Category:June 1965 in the United States

Category:1965 in Louisiana

Category:Victims of the Ku Klux Klan

Category:Murdered African-American people

Category:People from Washington Parish, Louisiana

Category:People murdered in Louisiana