The Region : Evers’ Widow Asks for Police Protection

The widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers wants police protection because of a confrontation she had with a man while she campaigned for the Los Angeles City Council. Myrlie Evers said the man, who approached her after a candidates’ forum for the 10th District seat, said he was related to Byron de la Beckwith, a Mississippi man accused of assassinating her husband outside their home in 1963. Beckwith was twice tried for the shooting, but both trials ended in a hung jury. In a letter to Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, Evers said: “As an experienced police officer, you are undoubtedly sensitive to physical danger. I’m sure you can feel it. It is the same with me. After nearly 30 years of involvement in the civil rights movement, I can feel the presence of real danger, and it was real danger that I felt when confronted by this man.” A police spokesman said a decision had not been made whether to provide the protection.