North Alabama Citizens Council Defendants

In 1956, Nat "King" Cole was included on the bill in a performance in Birmingham with the Ted Heath Band, fronted by white British musician Ted Heath. As word circulated in the city about the integrated show, men from the North Alabama Citizens Council, a white-supremacist group, spread racist propaganda and three of them rushed the stage during the show, injuring Cole. The three and a fourth accomplice were tried and convicted of the conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, a much less serious charge than the original of assault with intent to murder.