Roy Wilkins was spitting fire. His public statement said Medgar’s death “demonstrates anew the blind and murderous hatred which obsesses too many Mississippians. In their ignorance, they believe that by killing a brave, dedicated, and resourceful leader of the civil rights struggle, they can kill the movement for human rights. . . . Every Negro citizen has lost a valiant leader in the death of Medgar Evers. The entire nation has lost a man who believed in America and died defending its principles.”
