June 12, 1963 - President Kennedy, “appalled by the barbarity” of the assassination of a top NAACP integration leader in Jackson, Miss. today, kept a hot line open to the Justice Department, which is pressing an all-out manhunt for the slayer. (Pictured below is Mr. Evers’ widow, Myrlie, today with her son James.) The President, reported to be “shocked and angry” by the killing of 37-year-old Medgar Evers, wants the killer caught as quickly as possible, a White House source said. Mr. Kennedy “has been assured by the Justice Department that its full investigatory machinery has been placed at the disposal of Jackson police officials in an effort to uncover the assassin,” acting White House Press Secretary Andrew Hatcher told newsmen. “The President was appalled by the barbarity of this act,” Hatcher said in a formal statement. The President was informed of the shooting at 7 a.m. He immediately contacted his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who assured the President the FBI was already aiding Jackson police. The FBI’s laboratories and identification facilities have also been made available in tracking down the killer. “We are saddened and shocked by the news of the murder of Mr. Evers,” the Attorney General said. “I think all of us share in the hope that those responsible for this crime will soon be found and prosecuted.” Rep. William M. Colmer (D-Miss.) told the House that Mississippi Governor Ross W. Barnett assured him that state officials were “using their best efforts to bring the culprit to justice.” Colmer termed the slaying a “dastardly act.”
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