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“EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACT OF 2007” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1413-E1414 on June 26, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACT OF 2007
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speech of
HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank my dear friend and colleague, Mr. Lewis of Georgia for leading this effort.
The murder and subsequent miscarriage of justice in the unresolved civil rights cases still remains this country's biggest transgression. The first step towards erasing the injustices that has haunted the families of the victims is to, as a nation, acknowledge and give due diligence to these unsolved murders.
According to the FBI, there are roughly 100 unsolved homicide cases from that time period. Among those is the murder of Emmett Till--for whom the bill is named--an African-American teenager who was brutally beaten and shot in 1955. His killers tied a cotton gin to his neck and threw his body into a Mississippi river. That became a major event in the civil rights movement. Two men were prosecuted for the crime but were acquitted.
H.R. 923 authorizes $10 million annually for fiscal years 2008-2017 for the Justice Department to hire special investigators to work on solving civil rights crimes dating back to before 1969.
Justice being served in these cases is a reality. To name a few examples in Mississippi: The 1994 conviction of Byron De La Beckwith for his role in the assassination of Medgar Evers. The 2005 conviction of Edgar Ray Killen for his role in the deaths of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, the three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. The conviction was based, in part, on new evidence that he had boasted of the killing at a Ku Klux Klan rally and to others over the three decades after the crime; and most recently, James Ford Seale, convicted last Thursday, June 14, 2007, for his role in the abduction of two Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, the African-American teenagers in Meadville, Mississippi, in 1964.
This bill provides an honest effort to bring closure to the more than 40 families of unresolved civil rights cases in Mississippi.
Such as the Family of Charles Brown of Yazoo City, Miss., 1957--A white man shot Brown, who was visiting the white man's sister. The Justice Department handed the case over to the state.
The Family of Jessie Brown of Winona, Miss., 1965--The 1965 NAACP annual report claimed white farmer R.M. Gibson killed Brown.
The Family of Eli Brumfield of McComb, Miss., 1961--Police officer B. F. Elmore alleged self-defense after shooting Brumfield. Police claimed Brumfield jumped from his car with a pocket knife after police pulled him over for speeding.
The Family of Silas (Ernest) Caston of Jackson, Miss., 1964--Caston was shot by a local police officer. CORE and NAACP filed a civil suit against Deputy Sheriff Herbert Sullivan. The result of that suit is unknown.
The Family of Vincent Dahmon of Natchez, Miss., 1966--Dahmon, 65, was shot in the head around the time of a march in support of James Meredith.
The Family of Woodrow Wilson Daniels of Water Valley, Miss., 1958--
Sheriff Buster Treloar, identified by four witnesses as the man who beat Daniels to death in a prison, was freed after 23 minutes of deliberation by an all-white jury. ``By God,'' Treloar said after the trial. ``Now I can get back to rounding up bootleggers and damn niggers.''
The Family of Pheld Evans of Canton, Miss., 1964--Medgar Evers identified Evans as having been killed under mysterious circumstances.
The Family of J. E. Evanston of Long Lake, Miss., 1955--Evanston's body is fished out of Long Lake in December. Evanston was a teacher in the local elementary school.
The Family of Jasper Greenwood of Vicksburg, Miss., 1964--Greenwood was found shot to death near his car on a rural road. Police said the slaying was not racially motivated.
The Family of Jimmie Lee Griffin of Sturgis, Miss., 1965--Griffin was killed in a hit-and-run accident. A coroner's report revealed Griffin was run over at least twice.
The Family of Luther Jackson of Philadelphia, Miss., 1959--Jackson was killed by police after he and his girlfriend were found talking in their car, which was stalled in a ditch. Police claim Jackson attacked them.
The Family of Ernest Jells of Clarksdale, Miss., 1964--Jells was accused of stealing a banana from a grocery and pointing a rifle at pursuing police officers. The officers were exonerated.
The Family of John Lee of Goshen Springs, Miss., 1965--Lee's body was found beaten on a country road.
The Family of Willie Henry Lee of Rankin County, Miss., 1965--Lee, who was known to have attended civil rights meetings, was found beaten on a country road. An autopsy revealed he died by strangulation from gas.
The Family of George Love of Indianola, Miss., 1958--Love was killed in a gun battle with police who believed he was responsible for a murder and arson. He was later cleared of any connection to the murder.
The Family of Sylvester Maxwell of Canton, Miss., 1963--Maxwell's castrated and mutilated body was found by his brother-in-law less than 500 yards from the home of a white family.
The Family of Robert McNair of Pelahatchie, Miss., 1965--McNair was killed by a town constable.
The Family of Clinton Melton of Sumner, Miss., 1956--Elmer Otis Kimbell was cleared in Melton's death. Kimbell claimed Melton fired at him three times before he returned fire with a shotgun. No gun was found in Melton's car or on his body.
The Family of Booker T. Mixon of Clarksdale, Miss., 1959--Mixon's body was found lying on the side of the road, completely nude. Police claimed it was a hit-and-run, though family members cited his naked body and the extensive amount of flesh torn from his body as evidence of murder.
The Family of Nehemiah Montgomery of Merigold, Miss., 1964--
Montgomery, 60, was shot by police after allegedly refusing to pay for gas. Police were acquitted, and the shooting was called justifiable homicide.
The Family of Sam O'Quinn of Centreville, Miss., 1959--O'Quinn, derided by some local whites for being ``uppity,'' was shot after joining the NAACP.
The Family of Hubert Orsby of Pickens, Miss., 1964--Orsby's body was found in the Black River. It was reported that he was wearing a t-shirt with ``CORE,'' written on it, representing the Congress of Racial Equality.
The Family of William Roy Prather of Corinth, Miss., 1959--Prather, 15, was killed in an anti-black Halloween prank. One of eight youths involved was indicted on manslaughter charges.
The Family of Johnny Queen of Fayette, Miss., 1965--A white off-duty constable was named in the pistol slaying of Johnny Queen. The shooting was not connected to any arrest.
The Family of Donald Rasberry of Okolona, Miss., 1965--Rasberry was shot to death by his plantation boss.
The Family of Jessie James Shelby of Yazoo City, Miss., 1956--Shelby, 23, was fatally wounded by a police officer who claimed he shot Shelby because he resisted arrest.
The Family of Ed Smith of State Line, Miss., 1958--A grand jury refused to indict L.D. Clark in the death of Smith, who was shot in his yard in front of his wife. Clark later reportedly bragged about the killing.
The Family of Eddie James Stewart of Crystal Springs, Miss., 1966--
Stewart was reportedly beaten and shot while in police custody. Police claimed he was shot while trying to escape.
The Family of Isaiah Taylor of Ruleville, Miss., 1964--Taylor was shot by a police officer after allegedly lunging at him with a knife. The shooting was ruled a justifiable homicide.
The Family of Freddie Lee Thomas of LeFlore County, Miss., 1965--
Federal investigators looked into the death of Thomas, 16. Thomas's brother believed he was murdered as a warning against black voter registration. The result of the investigation is unknown.
The Family of Saleam Triggs of Hattiesburg, Miss., 1965--The body of Mrs. Triggs was found mysteriously burned to death.
The Family of Clifton Walker of Adams County, Miss., 1964--Walker was killed by a shotgun blast at close range. The result of a federal investigation is unknown; and a host of others.
We must act--not only to bring these criminals to justice, but to also cleanse our Nation of this stain. The unsolved case of Emmett Till and other victims of the civil rights movement represent a terrible chapter in our Nation's history. Over the years there have been sporadic efforts to prosecute some of the civil rights era slayings that were ignored at the time. We need to address these injustices before it is too late--before they become permanent scars on our Nation's history. It is essential that Congress pass this legislation mandating a well-coordinated and well-funded effort to investigate and prosecute unsolved crimes from the civil rights era.
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