Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973) was an American politician who served as Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, for more than two decades.
As a white supremacist,[2] Bull Connor enforced legal racial segregation and denied civil rights to black citizens, especially during 1963's Birmingham campaign led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
[4] As a legislator, he voted for extending the poll tax, which served as a barrier to voter registration by poor blacks and whites, and against an anti-sedition bill intended to stifle union activity.
Concurrently during this period, Connor served as the radio play-by-play broadcaster of the minor league Birmingham Barons baseball club spanning the 1932 through 1936 seasons.
He announced he would be campaigning on a platform of "protecting employment practices, law enforcement, segregation and other problems that have been historically classified as states' rights by the Democratic party".
Taylor, who had attempted to speak to the Southern Negro Youth Congress, was arrested for violating Birmingham's racial segregation laws.
[1] The offshoot States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats) nominated Strom Thurmond for president at its convention in Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium.
His forces raided a meeting which was being held at the house of African-American activist Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, where three Montgomery ministers were in attendance.
[13] In the spring of 1961, integrated teams of civil rights activists mounted what they called "Freedom Rides" to highlight the illegal imposition of racial segregation on interstate buses, whose operations came under federal law and the constitution.
As Commissioner, he had administrative authority over the police and fire departments, schools, public health service, and libraries, all of which were segregated by state law.
In addition, he asked him to refrain from announcing support for the other leading mayoral candidate, Art Hanes, so that King's chances would be greater.
At the end of the meeting, Connor noted that he was expecting the Freedom Riders to reach Birmingham the following Sunday, Mother's Day.
In November 1962, in response to the extremely negative perception of the city—it was derisively nicknamed "Bombingham" by outsiders for the numerous attacks on the homes and churches of black civil rights activists—Birmingham voters changed the city's form of government.
For instance, in 1961 when the president of the city's Chamber of Commerce was visiting Japan, he saw a newspaper photo of a bus engulfed in flames, which occurred during the Freedom Rides.
Connor and his fellow commissioners filed suit to block the change in power,[1] but on May 23, 1963, the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled against them.
The day after the April election, Dr. King and local civil rights leaders began "Project 'C'" (for "confrontation") against the Birmingham business community.
It would also demonstrate to national media and local residents the strong desire of African Americans to exercise their constitutional rights as citizens.
In the final phase of Project C, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's James Bevel introduced a controversial new tactic of using young people in the demonstrations.
On May 2, 1963, the first youths and students walked out of the 16th Street Baptist Church and attempted to march to Birmingham's City Hall to talk to the Mayor.
The deaths of the children prompted the Attorney General Robert Kennedy to call Governor George Wallace and threaten to send in federal troops to control violence and bombings in Birmingham.