Charles Koen

Who is Charles Koen?

Charles Koen, also known as Chuck Koen, is a civil rights activist. Koen worked with organizations in Southern Illinois during the mid- and late 1960s. He founded the Black Liberators in St. Louis, Missouri in 1968; he later went on to lead nationally noted campaigns in Cairo, Illinois. During his Cairo struggles, Koen was honored with a tribute on an album by jazz drummer Max Roach.

Koen was convicted and sentenced on May 21, 1991, to 12 years imprisonment, ordered to pay over $636,000 in restitution, and $5,000 in penalties. His sentence stems from a conviction on charges of embezzlement, misapplication of Federal Program Funds, theft of public money, false statements, arson and mail fraud. He was ordered to make restitution to the City of Cairo, Illinois, for the disability payments to a fireman who was injured while extinguishing the fire for which Koen was convicted. The 1985 arson destroyed the building which housed the UFI a social service agency founded by Koen in the late 1960s. The defense contended that the blaze could have been ignited by a firebomb thrown by the Ku Klux Klan.