Episode 091: Kevin Rust – Reopened Klan Murder Case, Ben Chester White




FBI Retired Case File Review with Jerri Williams show

Summary: <a href="http://jerriwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/JERRI-WILLIAMS-Podcast-Logo.jpg"></a><br> Retired agent 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. In this episode of <a href="http://jerriwilliams.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI Retired case File Review</a>, 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. 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.<br> <br> Special Agent (Retired)<br> Kevin Rust<br> 6/9/1985 –  10/31/2014<br>  <br> <a href="http://jerriwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Headshot.jpg"></a><br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br> The following links are for numerous articles regarding the reopened civil rights investigation of the racially motivated murder of sharecropper Ben Chester White:<br> <a href="http://nuweb9.neu.edu/civilrights/ben-chester-white/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Northeastern University School of Law – Case Watch – Ben Chester White</a><br> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/26/us/last-cry-for-justice-in-mississippi-as-us-trial-revisits-66-killing.html?mcubz=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times – 1/26/2003:  Last Cry for Justice in Mississippi As U.S. Trial Revisits ’66 Killing </a><br> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/28/us/ex-fbi-agent-testifies-of-bloody-time-in-mississippi.html?mcubz=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times – 2/28/2003:  Ex-F.B.I Agent Testifies of Bloody Time in Mississippi  </a><br> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/01/us/former-klansman-is-found-guilty-of-1966-killing.html?mcubz=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times – 3/1/2003:  Old Mississippi Crime Scene Revisited in Murder Trial </a><br> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/01/us/former-klansman-is-found-guilty-of-1966-killing.html?mcubz=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times – 3/1/2003: Former Klansman Is Found Guilty of 1966 Killing  </a><br> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022700131.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Post – 2/27/2007: FBI Reopens 100 Civil Rights-Era Cases  2/27/2007   </a><br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>  <br>