Leaving the 1955 extrajudicial killing of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy who was killed by two white men after witnesses claimed. He whistled at a white woman for the 2nd time, closed for the second time by the Justice Department.
As reported by CNN, the Justice Department believes it is unable to establish whether white woman Carolyn Bryant Donham. Who alleged the young boy of making sexual advances toward her lied to authorities. A retraction allegedly made by Donham was deemed key evidence in Till’s case by Professor Timothy Tyson in 2017.
Donham testified in a previous prosecution that Till grabbed her hand and solicited her, telling the court that he had been with “white women”. In 2008, when Tyson confronted Tyson with her testimony, she reportedly told him, “That part’s not true.” Even though the Department of Justice had determined a year ago that a prosecution could not be brought. Because of the statute of limitations, the claim demanded that the case be reopened. The federal authorities interviewed Donham again, but she denied ever contradicting her prior statements.
Till was on a visit to Mississippi in 1955 when he was kidnapped, beaten, tortured and killed after being charged with whistling and making sexual advances at Donham. The body was discovered several days later in the Tallahatchie River. Donham Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother J.W Milam were both charged with murder at Till’s death. However, all-white juries acquitted both men. Milam and Bryant admitted to the killing months later during a paid interview.
When the 2 men came to the home looking for their younger cousin, Rev. Wheeler Parker was present. “I close my eyes as I wait to be shot,” Parker said during an interview with ABC News. “I didn’t get shot, and I opened my eyes to see them passing me by. ‘Fat boy from Chicago’ is what we are looking for, said the guy.’”
