This Week in Christian History: Popular Preacher Shoots a Man, Vatican and Nazis, Isaac Watts
Popular Preacher J. Frank Norris Kills a Man - July 17, 1926
This week marks the anniversary of when J. Frank Norris, a Texas preacher and noted leader in the fundamentalist movement in America, shot and killed a man in his office.
Considered the forerunner to later televangelists, Norris oversaw a megachurch in Fort Worth, Texas and had his sermons widely broadcasted and published.
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He also feuded publicly with Fort Worth's mayor. When a friend of the mayor showed up at Norris' office and reportedly threatened him, Norris shot him dead.
Eventually, the gun-slinging preacher was acquitted of first-degree murder, though many believe that he should have at least been found guilty of manslaughter.
"He was probably guilty of less than first-degree murder, but the prosecution was blinded by wanting so badly to convict him. Afterward, he wore his acquittal like a badge," noted David R. Stokes, author of The Shooting Salvationist, in a 2011 interview with the Riverfront Times.
"He probably could have been convicted of manslaughter — with first-degree murder, there has to be an element of premeditation — but the the prosecution wanted all or nothing. I think he overreacted in the situation. He shot a guy who was unarmed instead of a possible fistfight."
