Civil Rights Opponent. He, along with his half-brother Roy Bryant, received notoriety for the murder of a 14-year-old Black youth named Emmett Louis Till. Originally from Chicago, Till was in Mississippi visiting a cousin when the incident occurred. Milam, who was an outspoken supporter of Jim Crow segregation, was arrested and brought to trial but found not guilty of the murder. The trial started on September 19, 1955, and the all-white jury acquitted both men five days later. The charge of kidnapping was dropped by the grand jury. The two men sold their story to "Look" magazine for $3,150 with the story being published in the January 24, 1956 issue. Till's mother insisted for an open-casket funeral, giving the public an opportunity to see what murderers had brutally done to her only son. Clearly, this was a racially motivated hate crime. The funeral service had a heavy media coverage, which became a catalyst starting the American civil rights movement. The FBI reopened the case in 2004. Till's body was exhumed for an autopsy in 2005. In March of 2006, the FBI reported that information developed in their exhaustive investigation confirmed the Department of Justice's earlier conclusion: the five-year statute of limitations on any potential federal criminal civil rights violation had expired.
Civil Rights Opponent. He, along with his half-brother Roy Bryant, received notoriety for the murder of a 14-year-old Black youth named Emmett Louis Till. Originally from Chicago, Till was in Mississippi visiting a cousin when the incident occurred. Milam, who was an outspoken supporter of Jim Crow segregation, was arrested and brought to trial but found not guilty of the murder. The trial started on September 19, 1955, and the all-white jury acquitted both men five days later. The charge of kidnapping was dropped by the grand jury. The two men sold their story to "Look" magazine for $3,150 with the story being published in the January 24, 1956 issue. Till's mother insisted for an open-casket funeral, giving the public an opportunity to see what murderers had brutally done to her only son. Clearly, this was a racially motivated hate crime. The funeral service had a heavy media coverage, which became a catalyst starting the American civil rights movement. The FBI reopened the case in 2004. Till's body was exhumed for an autopsy in 2005. In March of 2006, the FBI reported that information developed in their exhaustive investigation confirmed the Department of Justice's earlier conclusion: the five-year statute of limitations on any potential federal criminal civil rights violation had expired.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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