In September of 1955, in Sumner, Mississippi, the trial of Roy Bryant and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, took place. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were indicted for murder in connection with the kidnapping and killing of 14-year-old Emmett Till. Emmett Till’s murder has become one of the most well-known murders that took place in the south during the 1950s. Even the general secretary of the Citizens' Councils of Mississippi, Robert Patterson, called the murder "very regrettable”. A Death in the Delta mentioned white storekeepers setting out jars on their counters for contributions to aid them an attorney, which soon totaled to almost $10,000. The lawyers from the town of Sumner were on the defense counsel and one agreed to represent Bryant and Milam. …show more content…
The ring had “L.T.” on it, which was given to Emmett by his father, Louis Till before he died. The body of Emmett was also used as evidence in the trial. Moses Wright, Emmett Till’s Uncle, identified his body as well as his mother, Mammie Till. The town sheriff, H. C. Strider, was quoted saying that the corpse had been dumped into the river about two days before it was discovered. However, Sheriff, H. C. Strider, switched his words by saying that Till’s corpse was too decomposed to have been in the water for only 2 days and mentioned that his body resembled an adult. He even spread a rumor that Till was indeed not dead, the ring was stolen and that Till had run off to another state. Which of course the jury accepted his …show more content…
He used the idea of the “L.T.” ring being planted on the body. During the trial, he stated to the jury “sure that every last Anglo-Saxon one of you has the courage to free these men in the face of that pressure.” He also accused Moses of teaming up with the NAACP, sneaking Emmett out of town and putting his ring on a rotten corpse. The second defense attorney, Sidney Carlton, guilt trip the jury by saying that their fathers would turn over in their graves if they were to charge Bryant and Milam a guilty verdict. The third defense attorney, J.J. Breland, who didn’t even ask for a confession from the men. I feel that these defense attorneys knew just like everyone else, that Bryant and Milam were going to be not guilty, no matter what anyone said because they are
Justified? How? Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a work of historical fiction written by American professor, Chris Crowe. It is about the 1955 kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was living in Greenwood, Mississippi. Though Emmett Till really was actually taken from his home and murdered in real life, the novel is narrated by a fictional character, and some of the other characters in the book, including the narrator's family, who are also fictional.
Two men named Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were charged for the murder of Emmett Till after a statement from Moses “Preacher” Wright. Which was that these two men had come to his house to take him away. Due to the horrible
During the trial for the murder of Emmett Till several people were put on the witness stand, most of whom were black. The way in which the defense, the lawyer for Bryant and Milam, who murdered Emmett Till, spoke demeaningly to the witnesses was clearly racist. An example of what the lawyer said was, ""Chester when you first saw this body, did you recognize it? Was it Emmett Till?” … Did you determine the exact cause of death?”
Although there are doubts about who was involved in Emmett Till’s death, the only perpetrators that were tried in court were Roy Bryant, and J.W Milam (Anderson). August 28, 1955 was the day Till was kidnapped and murdered (Emmett Till Biography). Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam went in Mose Wright`s house and demanded the Chicago nigger (Linder).Till was wake up out of his sleep to be dragged to the back of a pickup truck (Linder). He was shot in the right ear, beat with a 45. Colt, and had a gin fan wrapped around his neck with barbed wire (Huie).
One of Emmet’s cousins Simeon Wright was a key witness and decided to testify. He confirmed the events that happen on August, 24th. He said “J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant died with Emmett Till's blood on their hands… And it looks like everyone else who was involved is going to do the same. They had a chance to come clean.
W. Kellum told the jury today that ‘your forefathers will turn over in their graves’’ if they convicted two white men of murdering a 14-year-old Chicago negro boy.” (Kolin)This quote proves that the defense had told the jury to make sure that they come to a verdict of not guilty. The outcome of the trial was clearly fixed, for example, “A fourteen-year-old boy, Emmett Till, had been brutally murdered and his body thrown into the Tallahatchie River, but despite clear evidence that two white men committed the crime, an all-white jury returned a "Not Guilty" verdict after just an hour of deliberation.” (Linder Background)This quote proves that the jury was very inclined to reach the verdict of not guilty just because Bryant and Milam are white. The outcome of the trial helped was a major factor leading to the civil rights movement, according to Douglas Linder, “The trial of Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam for the murder of Till shook the conscience of a nation and helped spark the movement for civil rights for black Americans.”
Later that night, Roy Bryant and his brother in law went to his uncle's house unannounced, to have a “talk” with Emmett. But, they had kidnapped him and took him to the Milam’s residence and beat him. Then, they went down to Tallahatchie River where they threw his deformed body, tied to the cotton-gin fan with barbed wire. His body stayed at the bottom of the river for three days, until it was found. According to “ Emmett Till Biography” from biography.com, “ They then beat the teenager brutally, dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his mutilated body into the water.
On the day of August 24, 1955, 14 year old Emmett Till was on vacation to Money, Mississippi when he was murdered because he was flirting with a white woman. He was killed by the woman’s husband and her brother. The murderers made him carry a 75 pound cotton gin to the banks of the Tallahatchie River, where he was forced to take off his clothes, and was beaten to death, had an eye gouged out, shot in the head, and then tied to the cotton gin with barbed wire. He was then thrown into the river to die. Till grew up in a working class neighborhood south of Chicago, and he went to a segregated school, but he wasn’t ready for the segregation he would face in Mississippi.
The abduction, torture, and murder of Emmett "Bobo" Till in August of 1955 was a major turning point in history that motivated the [African-American] Civil Rights Movement. When the accused, half-brothers Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were tried and acquitted of all charges, this caused uproar in the African-American community. There were several factors that contributed to the outcome of the case, such as gender, class, and ethnicity. These factors and several others will be discussed throughout this essay. BACKGROUND OF EMMETT TILL Emmett Louis
On August 24th, 1955, Emmett Till came from Chicago, to visit relatives in Money, Mississippi. He and a group of teenagers went to Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market. Till was allegedly accused of flirting and whistling at Carolyn Bryant, the wife of the owner of the store. “Four days later, at approximately 2:30 a.m. on August
Despite of overwhelming evidence the jury found them not guilty. The jury deliberated only for sixty-seven minutes until they decided there
The murder of Emmett outraged many blacks and sympathetic whites. The outcome of the trial also angered the same people because of the amount of evidence against Roy and Milam. But the most important event was the picture of Emmett taken by David Jackson. Mamie wanted to have an open casket at his funeral. She wanted this to “Let people see what they’ve done to my boy.”
“Emmett Till and I were about the same age. A week after he was murdered . . . I stood on the corner with a gang of boys, looking at pictures of him in the black newspapers and magazines. In one, he was laughing and happy. In the other, his head was swollen and bashed in, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and his mouth twisted and broken.
As a class requirement, we were obligated to watch a documentary about Emmett Till. The documentary, titled “The Murder of Emmett Till” was a tell-all about a tragic story of a fourteen-year-old boy from Chicago. Emmett Till was sent to Money, Mississippi to spend the summer with some relatives. In the 1950s, life in Chicago was different than life in Mississippi. Racism was stronger in the south than in the north and Emmett Till was walking into an environment he had never encountered before.
Emmett Till was a loving, fun fourteen year old boy who grew up on the Southside of Chicago. During 1955, classrooms were segregated yet Till found a way to cope with the changes that was happening in the world. Looking forward to a visit with his cousins, Emmett was ecstatic and was not prepared for the level of segregation that would occur in Money, Mississippi when he arrived. Emmett was a big prankster, but his mother reminded him of his race and the differences that it caused. When Till arrived in Money, he joined in with his family and visited a local neighborhood store for a quick beverage.