Albert J. Lingo
Albert J. Lingo, also known as Al Lingo, was a career Alabama Highway Patrolman who served as Director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety from 1963 to 1965, including the turbulent early 1960s years marked by marches and demonstrations that characterized the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. South. Lingo's service under Alabama governor George Wallace with regard to the Selma to Montgomery marches has been characterized in a negative light. He resigned as director effective October 1, 1965, and later ran for election to be sheriff of Jefferson County, Alabama. Lingo died at age 59 on August 17, 1969.
Lingo was reportedly a member of the Ku Klux Klan and was widely seen as a Klan-sympathizer. Lingo was described by The New York Times editorial page editor Howell Raines as "an addled racist" who derailed the state of Alabama's investigation into the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing due to either incompetence or in order to protect Robert Chambliss.
