JACKSON, Miss. – The FBI is once again investigating the grisly murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy whose abduction lit a fire under the civil rights movement in 1955. And even after 63 years, the news couldn't come soon enough for Emmett's relatives.
"We want the process to work, and we want justice to prevail for Emmett," Deborah Watts, Emmett's cousin, told USA TODAY. "This cannot just be forgotten."
Wheeler Parker, who was with Till that fateful night, said he wants to see justice for his cousin. “That would be the biggest Christmas present,” he said.
Till, who was black, was abducted Aug. 28, 1955, three days after Carolyn Donham, a white 21-year-old shopkeeper in the town of Money, said the 14-year-old grabbed and wolf-whistled at her.
The battered body of Till, nicknamed "Bobo," was found three days later in the Tallahatchie River. The viciousness of the killing rocked the nation, and the woman's then-husband and another man were charged with murder. Both were acquitted by an all-white jury that year.
The Justice Department said in a statement Thursday that it was reopening the investigation "after receiving new information" it did not detail. The decision was revealed to Congress in a February report and was first reported by the Associated Press.
"Because it is an active investigation, the department cannot provide any additional information at this time," the department said Thursday.
Till's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, made sure her son's casket was left open for the viewing so the public could see how badly he had been beaten. Tens of thousands of African-Americans paid their respects.
"Mamie Till’s decision to allow African-American media outlets to display her son’s battered body was one of the critical events that galvanized African-Americans to fight to end America’s racial dictatorship through the Civil Rights movement," said Alvin Tillery, a political science professor and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University.
Emmett Till's death made news last year with publication of "The Blood of Emmett Till." The book, written by Timothy B. Tyson, quotes Donham admitting in 2008 that she wasn't telling the truth when she made the claims. Donham, now in her 80s, lives in North Carolina.
Watts, founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, said the family had hoped the book would lead to a "vigorous" investigation – and possibly charges against Donham.
"We always understood that she had lied," Watts said.
USA TODAY was unable to contact Donham. The Associated Press said a man who answered her door said Donham would not comment.
Four months after the widely publicized trial, Look magazine published an account of the killing it said it obtained from Donham's then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his brother, J.W. Milam. In the article, the men admit beating Till and tossing him in the river, weighed down with a 74-pound cotton gin fan.
Milam told the magazine the men wanted to beat and scare Till, not kill him. But when he could not be frightened, they decided to kill him, Milam said.
"What else could we do?" Milam told the magazine. "... He's tired o' livin'. I'm likely to kill him."
Milam died in 1980, Bryant in 1994. That might leave only Donham to face charges. Kevin Borgeson, a professor of criminal justice at Salem State University, says concerns about the statute of limitations could be resolved with a charge of obstruction of justice.
"Depending on the type of crime, the statute of limitations on obstruction can be waived," he said. If she did lie, "she took the investigation where it wouldn't have gone if she had just been honest."
The federal government reopened the case in 2004 but closed it in 2007 with no further charges filed.
The Justice Department's February report was required under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016. The bill reauthorized investigation and prosecution of civil rights violations that occurred before 1970, expanded powers to include crime in the 1970s, required that families be kept abreast of developments and demanded an annual report on the investigations to Congress.
Simeon Wright, who said he was a witness to Till's abduction, died in September. He said he was there when Till wolf-whistled at Bryant's wife at the store.
Wright, in his book "Simeon's Story," says that days later, on Aug. 28, 1955, Wright and Till were sleeping when Milam and Bryant entered with guns. He said his mother begged the men not to take Till, even offering them money.
"They had come for Bobo," Wright wrote. "No begging, pleading or payment was going to stop them."
The men took Till away, and Wright never saw him again.
"I must have stayed in the bed for hours, petrified," Wright wrote.
Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley[a] (born Mamie Elizabeth Carthan; November 23, 1921 – January 6, 2003) was the mother of Emmett Till, who was murdered in Mississippi on August 28, 1955, at the age of 14, after being accused for flirting with a white cashier woman, Carolyn Bryant, at the grocery store. For her son's funeral in Chicago, Mamie Till insisted that the casket containing his body be left open, because, in her words, "I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby."[2]
I know several women named Mamie...I don't understand the question??
I think they think it’s pronounced Mammy. Typical prejudice, we all have it. Still no reason for a LOL or LMAO for someone’s given name. It wasn’t their choice.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
You know, Mamie Eisenhower, the President's wife. It is one of those lost names now days, but was a popular name back in the day.
It was more a nickname....any girl with a first name that started with "M" could be a Mamie. if that wasn't the true given name. Ike's wife's real name was Marie, but the world knew her as Mamie.
Last edited by Ballpeen; 07/13/1806:07 PM.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
As to the Till case, I hope they do clear his name. His roommate admitted he did whistle.....but hey, you shouldn't be killed for that, even if times were different.
At this point, I don't see the point in jailing a person in their 80's. I don't see how that is going to make people feel better 60 years later.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
As to the Till case, I hope they do clear his name. His roommate admitted he did whistle.....but hey, you shouldn't be killed for that, even if times were different.
At this point, I don't see the point in jailing a person in their 80's. I don't see how that is going to make people feel better 60 years later.
If they are alive and guilty of murder, there is no reason not to jail them. That said I agree it's not going to help anything.
As to the Till case, I hope they do clear his name. His roommate admitted he did whistle.....but hey, you shouldn't be killed for that, even if times were different.
At this point, I don't see the point in jailing a person in their 80's. I don't see how that is going to make people feel better 60 years later.
If they are alive and guilty of murder, there is no reason not to jail them. That said I agree it's not going to help anything.
I agree with that, but she didn't murder anybody. Maybe her husband and someone else did.
I just don't see the point in going down the obstruction road 60 years later.
It's a new era. Maybe it is time to bury the past and focus on all the good that has happened, and there has been a LOT of good change.
The problem with topics like this is it takes generational change.....20 year segments. We just elected a black President....would you have seen that 20-30 years ago?
We are on a good road, but no, it isn't going to happen overnight and it can't be legislated. It just has to happen, and it is.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
And as I said, I think he didn't know the correct way to pronounce the name....he was reading it as Mammy....at least that is my take. I considered it a honest mistake.
If he was mocking her, then I agree with you as I usually do.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
You know, Mamie Eisenhower, the President's wife. It is one of those lost names now days, but was a popular name back in the day.
It was more a nickname....any girl with a first name that started with "M" could be a Mamie. if that wasn't the true given name. Ike's wife's real name was Marie, but the world knew her as Mamie.
(Sounds like) 'Mayme' is a great name, especially for a girl born in May. I really like it.
P.S. If I was gonna try to be funny I would have said:
(Sounds like) 'Mayme' is a great name, especially for a girl born in December.
PPS: I'm sorry if you don't find ^that^ funny, it was along the lines of this (classic/love it):
I don't see how that is going to make people feel better 60 years later.
Respectfully, I think that 'people feeling better' about something like this entirely misses the point.
To do absolutely nothing allows this person to literally get away with no responsibility in this tragic case. Her lies directly led to this boy's death. _______________
'Feels' shouldn't be a factor in any of this. What does the law say? And if imprisonment is distasteful to some, then we can ask; "what could the law allow?" Please tell me what would be a reasonable outcome/punishment/consequence for setting up another human being's execution?
If you can't come up with a suitable alternative for incarceration, it's tantamount to saying this person should be allowed to get away with this. And that should be unacceptable to anyone who values justice.
Hate to sound harsh but the fact that she's 80 simply means that she's escaped responsibility of any sort for 60 years.
This is why 'we' still have that old cliche, begun back in those dark days:
"You go down to the courthouse looking for some Justice, that's exactly what you'll find: just Us."
As to the Till case, I hope they do clear his name. His roommate admitted he did whistle.....but hey, you shouldn't be killed for that, even if times were different.
At this point, I don't see the point in jailing a person in their 80's. I don't see how that is going to make people feel better 60 years later.
If they are alive and guilty of murder, there is no reason not to jail them. That said I agree it's not going to help anything.
I agree with that, but she didn't murder anybody. Maybe her husband and someone else did.
I just don't see the point in going down the obstruction road 60 years later.
It's a new era. Maybe it is time to bury the past and focus on all the good that has happened, and there has been a LOT of good change.
The problem with topics like this is it takes generational change.....20 year segments. We just elected a black President....would you have seen that 20-30 years ago?
We are on a good road, but no, it isn't going to happen overnight and it can't be legislated. It just has to happen, and it is.
No, no, no, no, no.
Why should we allow the heinous crimes of the past go unaddressed because "things were different back then?"
I assert to you in the most forceful of terms that things are better precisely because we now judge the past with new sensibilities. Because we've BEEN judging the atrocities of the past in ways that they should have been judged back then.
And yes, things ARE better, but you and I both know why. They started improving when good people stated putting their foot down and saying that the status quo was unacceptable. Laws were passed, ensuring equal opportunities. Standing laws began being enforced when Black citizens were victimized. Alabama's newest senator Doug Jones (as US Attorney) was finally able to bring the 16th Street Baptist Church bombers to justice in 2000. Those little girls died in 1963. Those two old men went to federal prison as they should have. Nobody should have taken pity on them for the mere fact that they were old. All that meant was that they got away with murder for 37 years. One was up for parole (life sentence) in 2016, and Jones was there at the parole hearing to ensure his ass stayed in prison. The other died in prison in 2004. My federal tax dollars hard at work- and worth every dime I've spent on their behalf.
And yet we still are not where we need to be.
I also disagree that it can't be legislated. On the contrary, I assert that it only got better BECAUSE it got legislated. Lynchings were commonplace right up to the very day laws were passed saying that they were no longer to be tolerated. People did not change out of the goodness of their hearts. They changed because the law began exacting a price for those actions. Amazing how so few people were hung from trees after that, isn't it? No... it really isn't. Amazing.
Trust me: we don't make things better by making allowances for people who represented the worst about our past. Even now, there are those who still resist these norms, screaming and kicking. The Charlottesville tiki torchers, for instance: do they get a pass in 2038 because "well, things were different back in 2016..."
Sorry, bro. I just can't get with this in any way.
These stories just cut deeper for some of us, and for good reason. As long as these things are allowed, the salt stays in the wound. And a salted wound can't heal.
While I don't see the good it would do to incarcerate an 80 year old lady, I can see the harm it would do if she didn't face the consequences of her actions.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I can see the harm it would do if she didn't face the consequences of her actions.
Which is why I asked 'Peen for recommendations as to a suitable alternative to traditional punishments. I'm not without a heart, but I am interested in justice, however it may become manifest.
Half of me understands your take on incarceration. The other half of me still knows that a 20-something lied to people... and shared responsibility for the death of a 14 year old boy.
She (and those who actually laid hands upon the young teen) were able to live their lives in a manner of fullness that was stolen from Emmitt Till.
Something should and must be done. I confess I don't have the wisdom to determine what exactly that might be.
I can see the harm it would do if she didn't face the consequences of her actions.
Which is why I asked 'Peen for recommendations as to a suitable alternative to traditional punishments. I'm not without a heart, but I am interested in justice, however it may become manifest.
Half of me understands your take on incarceration. The other half of me still knows that a 20-something lied to people... and shared responsibility for the death of a 14 year old boy.
She (and those who actually laid hands upon the young teen) were able to live their lives in a manner of fullness that was stolen from Emmitt Till.
Something should and must be done. I confess I don't have the wisdom to determine what exactly that might be.
I think he was dead before she lied, and maybe she didn't lie. Seems there was something about his roomie saying he did cat call, which is what she said.
I don't know, seems to me that digging up dead cases isn't the way to promote what is happening today.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
I can see the harm it would do if she didn't face the consequences of her actions.
Which is why I asked 'Peen for recommendations as to a suitable alternative to traditional punishments. I'm not without a heart, but I am interested in justice, however it may become manifest.
Half of me understands your take on incarceration. The other half of me still knows that a 20-something lied to people... and shared responsibility for the death of a 14 year old boy.
She (and those who actually laid hands upon the young teen) were able to live their lives in a manner of fullness that was stolen from Emmitt Till.
Something should and must be done. I confess I don't have the wisdom to determine what exactly that might be.
I think he was dead before she lied, and maybe she didn't lie. Seems there was something about his roomie saying he did cat call, which is what she said.
I don't know, seems to me that digging up dead cases isn't the way to promote what is happening today.
If she's genuinely culpable in his death, she needs to face justice. Justice is blind (or should be). Doesn't keep track of your age either.
WE DON'T NEED A QB BEFORE WE GET A LINE THAT CAN PROTECT HIM my two cents...
I can see the harm it would do if she didn't face the consequences of her actions.
Which is why I asked 'Peen for recommendations as to a suitable alternative to traditional punishments. I'm not without a heart, but I am interested in justice, however it may become manifest.
Half of me understands your take on incarceration. The other half of me still knows that a 20-something lied to people... and shared responsibility for the death of a 14 year old boy.
She (and those who actually laid hands upon the young teen) were able to live their lives in a manner of fullness that was stolen from Emmitt Till.
Something should and must be done. I confess I don't have the wisdom to determine what exactly that might be.
I can only try to put myself in the position of the Till family members...
I would want justice done by trial if necessary.. preferably by admission...
I don't know what kind of punishment I would want but I can't say I would see the benefit of throwing an 84 year old woman in jail..
I know that the law doesn't work this way, especially in capital cases... but I think my opinion would be, if she will confess and tell the truth about EVERYTHING that happened and everything she said... then I would just let her die in peace..
A part of me would always find that conclusion- inadequate.
I'm adult and well-adjusted enough to find a way to live with a certain degree of disappointment. But if my last name was Till... man, I don't know-
We folks have been swallowing this stuff for 400 years.
This would be just one more of those jagged little pills. What many people simply don't understand (or can't comprehend) is that every time something like this happens, it sends the message: "You are less than. You deserve less than. Sorry your family member died, but this is as much justice as you deserve. This is all we feel you are owed."
Frankly, I don't know what consequence would be considered just, but scot-free isn't it for sure. And no matter what sentence she'd face, it would still be a more humane treatment than Emmitt Till received.
This one just makes me frustrated, disappointed and cynical. Every time this stuff happens, it just hardens me one skosh more. And yeah, DC... all of them feel personal.
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