1963 church bombing echoes throughout Alabama Senate race

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A deadly act of racism is echoing in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race.

Democratic nominee Doug Jones was the lead prosecutor in trials that resulted in the convictions of two one-time Ku Klux Klansmen for a church bombing that killed four black girls in Birmingham in 1963.

Republican nominee Roy Moore is trying to depict Jones as an out-of-touch liberal who’s soft on crime. But Jones is touting a record that includes the church bombing prosecutions as he appeals to voters.

Jones supporter Michelle Summers-Hines says she learned about the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church growing up in Chicago, so she was inclined to back Jones from the start.

Jones led a team of prosecutors that convicted Thomas Blanton Jr. in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry the following year.