Jewel Lee Burt was a Mississippi Klansman who lived near Fayette in Jefferson County. He was employed at the Armstrong Tire Plant in Natchez.

Burt also was a member of the Minutemen, founded by Robert De Pugh with the alleged purpose of fighting communism. But the group, which drew a number of Klan members, spent much time building up an arsenal of guns and experimenting with explosives.

In 1968, Burt met with Mississippi White Knights’ leader Sam Bowers at Nix’s Café in Laurel to discuss proposed acts of violence.