Congressman Ask Justice Dept. to Pick up the Pace with Emmitt Till Investigation
Sunday, November 21, 2004 at 02:26AM
TheSpook
Jim Talent, R-Mo., joined with three Democrats on Friday in urging the
Justice Department to speed up its investigation into the murder of
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago youth who was beaten and shot in
Mississippi in 1955 after allegedly whistling at a white woman. Till
was black. The Justice Department reopened the case in May, but
Talent and other lawmakers said they were concerned that officials
weren't moving quickly enough. They noted that many of the potential
witnesses - and possible defendants - were old. Till's murder was
among the early sparks that helped ignite the civil rights movement.
Photographs of his beaten body sparked outrage across the
country. Two white men were charged with the murder in 1955, but
an all-white jury acquitted them. A documentary film, "The Untold Story
of Emmett Louis Till," renewed interest in the case and put pressure on
federal officials to reopen it. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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