NAACP Leader Reverend George Lee Shot Dead for Registering to Vote

Reverend George Lee of Belzoni, Mississippi, a grocer and NAACP leader who had registered to vote and encouraged others to do so, is shot and killed while driving on May 7, 1955. Lead pellets are found in his jaw but local authorities rule his death a traffic accident. The sheriff tells reporters the pellets might be dental fillings. No arrests are made. Lee had been warned to take his name off the voter rolls and refused.