Murder of Oneal Moore
1965 murder of an American police officer
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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.
Oneal Moore | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 23, 1931 Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | June 2, 1965 (aged 34) Varnado, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupations | 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 |
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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] The police filed no charges due to a lack of evidence and witnesses.[4]
The cold case was reopened by the FBI several times, first in 1990, then in 2001 and 2007, but they did not bring indictments.[4] 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.[5]