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In this episode, retired agent Kevin Rust reviews the reopened civil rights investigation of the racially motivated murder of sharecropper Ben Chester White by known Ku Klux Klan members.
In the federal trial, witnesses spoke from the grave when testimony from the original state trial was read into the court record. The new case resulted in the murder conviction of Ernest Avants 34 years after the horrific hate crime occurred.
Kevin Rust served 29 years with the FBI. He spent a majority of his career in Mississippi in resident agencies out of the Jackson Division, including 13 years in a one person office.
During his Bureau career, Kevin Rust also had assignments in Chicago, Budapest, FBI Headquarters and Quantico. He was a crisis negotiator who responded to many incidents both domestically and internationally and taught negotiation concepts to hundreds of state, local and international officers. Kevin Rust, who prior to entering the FBI was a CPA with Price Waterhouse, currently works as a contractor for the FBI’s International Corruption Unit tracing money flows and identifying assets for seizure that were purchased with money stolen by foreign kleptocrats.
Special Agent (Retired)
Kevin Rust
6/9/1985 – 10/31/2014
The following are links to news articles regarding the reopened civil rights investigation of the racially motivated murder of sharecropper Ben Chester White and case related images:
New York Times – 1/26/2003: Last Cry for Justice in Mississippi As U.S. Trial Revisits ’66 Killing
New York Times – 2/28/2003: Ex-F.B.I Agent Testifies of Bloody Time in Mississippi
New York Times – 3/1/2003: Old Mississippi Crime Scene Revisited in Murder Trial
New York Times – 3/1/2003: Former Klansman Is Found Guilty of 1966 Killing
Washington Post – 2/27/2007: FBI Reopens 100 Civil Rights-Era Cases 2/27/2007
Listen to more FBI Retired Case File Review episodes featuring hates crimes and civil rights violations here.
[…] assets purchased with money stolen by foreign kleptocrats. Kevin was previously interviewed in Episode 091 and Episode 117 regarding civil rights matters. Kevin Rush dedicates this episode to the memory of […]
I love this episode!
I’m glad you posted the photos of Mr White. I’m glad his life mattered even years later.