[JURIST] An alleged member of the Ku Klux Klan was arrested in Mississippi Thursday after being indicted by a grand jury for the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers that later inspired the movie "Mississippi Burning". The accused, Edgar Ray Killen is a now-80 year-old Baptist minister and one of eighteen individuals who stood trial in 1967 on failed federal conspiracy charges arising from the murders. On June 21, 1964, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, newly-arrived in Mississippi to advance black voting rights at the outset of what would later become known as Freedom Summer, were beaten and killed by a local mob on a deserted highway while on their way to investigate a fire. The Los Angeles Times has more. From Mississippi, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger provides local coverage.

12:30 PM ET - AP is reporting that Killen has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

1:15 PM ET - A full AP story on Killen's not guilty plea is now online here.