wikipedia | Leon Mercer Jordan (May 6, 1905, Kansas City, Missouri
- July 15, 1970, Kansas City, Missouri) was an American police officer,
politician and civil rights leader who was assassinated on July 15,
1970.[1][2] He was "one of the most influential African Americans in Kansas City's history"[3] and, at the time of his death, the "state’s most powerful black politician".[1]
Jordan attended Lincoln High School in Kansas City, served in the U.S. Army,[3] and graduated from Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio in 1932.[4] He married fellow Wilberforce student Orchid Irene Ramsey[5][6] on August 10, 1932.[4] After graduation, he worked as a school teacher.[2]
Jordan joined the Kansas City Police Department
in 1938, became a detective, and in 1952, became the first
African-American police lieutenant in that department's history. He took
a leave of absence in 1947, and spent eight years training the police
forces of Liberia.[6] A pilot, he flew his own plane around the country.[3]
In 1948, he helped coordinate the rescue of the French High
Commissioner of West Africa and 16 other French officials after their
plane made a forced landing. He was awarded the Chevalier of the Star of
Africa by Liberian President William Tubman in 1948.[4]
In 1951, Jordan became a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.[4]
He returned to Kansas City in February, 1952, and was promoted to
police lieutenant. However, he discovered that he had little power, so
he resigned and went back to Liberia for three years.[3] He returned to Kansas City for good in the mid-1950s, and purchased the Green Duck Tavern.[3]
In 1958, Jordan became a Democratic Party committeeman for the 14th Ward of Kansas City.[3] In 1962, Jordan co-founded Freedom, Inc.[7] along with Bruce R. Watkins.[4]
The organization advocated political awareness among African-Americans
in Kansas City, organized a massive voter registration drive, and
developed African-American political candidates. In 1963, Jordan and
Watkins helped pass an accommodations ordinance, desegregating all
public facilities in the city.[6]
In 1964, Freedom, Inc. put forward eight candidates for office, and seven of them won.[8] Among them was Jordan, who was elected to the first of three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives.
He was campaigning for a fourth term at the time he was murdered.
Shortly before his death, he described himself as a "radical", adding
"I'm not a conformist but there are bounds of reason."[2]
At about 1:00 a.m. on July 15, 1970, he was killed just outside his
Green Duck Tavern by three shotgun blasts. Eyewitnesses reported that
the three killers were African-American. The shotgun had been stolen,
and was abandoned immediately. When it was recovered, it was traced to a
burglary five years earlier in Independence, Missouri.[9]
Three men were arrested for the murder, at least one of whom
affiliated with a criminal group called the "Black Mafia". One was
acquitted, and charges were dropped against the other two.[10]
In 2010, reporters with the Kansas City Star
began investigating the assassination while preparing for coverage of
the 40th anniversary of Jordan's death. This led to discovery of the
missing murder weapon and some old fingerprint cards, and that motivated
the Kansas City Police Department to re-open the official investigation
of the department's oldest cold case. Civil rights leader Alvin Sykes
pressed the department for a complete investigation.[11]
In trying to determine who was responsible for the assassination, the
newspaper reported that Jordan and his Freedom, Inc. political movement
had been opposed to the "North End" faction in Kansas City politics, a
group under the influence of La Cosa Nostra,
and which had previously controlled black voting blocs. In 1965, Jordan
had punched Frank Mazzuca, a fellow state legislator who was alleged to
have supported mob interests in Jefferson City, Missouri, and death threats against Jordan were reported in the aftermath.[9]
The newspaper reported that police informants associated with the
Black Mafia had described the killing as a favor to North End mob
interests, and that it was organized by "Shotgun Joe" Centimano, owner
of a local liquor store. The informants said that Centimano had supplied
the murder weapon and recruited the killers. The newspaper reported
that one informant said the assassination had elements of both a "contract killing" and a "revenge killing", and that another said it was "all about politics".[10] News coverage said that a 900-page police report finished in 2011 had concluded that mob boss Nick Civella had given his "blessing" to Jordan's assassination.[12] No one was indicted because all of the main players were dead by then.
