Murder of Emmett Louis Till (Black Civil Rights)

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The murder of Emmett Louis Till For many, the murder of Emmett Louis Till does not sound familiar but what happened to him in 1955 astonished the nation, and caused shockwaves, tremor, and that still echo today. Emmett Louis Till was only 14 when he got kidnapped, torture, then shot in the head. He was murdered in Mississippi for whistling at a young white woman in a shop. The two white men, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W Milam were put on trial for the killing and kidnapping of Emmett but despite the strong evidence against them an all-white jury acquitted them after one hour. "He was the center of attraction. He loved pranks, he loved fun, he loved jokes. You know, he just was there in the center of everything. He was kind of a natural-born leader," says Parker, now 65. In fact Till wasn’t from the south, he was from Chicago. Till was visiting Mississippi with his 16 year old cousin Rev.Wheeler Parker. The family was worried about him, and didn’t want to let him go afraid his free-spirited nature could get him in trouble in the Deep South. The trouble started at Bryant’s meat market and grocery shop in Money, Mississippi. A white couple owned the shop, Roy Bryant and his 21 year old wife, Carolyn. She was behind the counter that afternoon that Till and his cousin came to buy some candy. As he was living the store he whistled at Carolyn who immediately went to get a gun. Till’s cousin, Simeon Wright was only 12 that day. "When he whistled, we ran. We jumped in the car and we got outta there. … That was something you didn't do." He now say’s at 62 year old. Informed of the incident two days later, Roy Bryant and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, began looking for Emmett Till. They found him at 2 a.m. the morning of August 28, 1955 at his uncle's cabin. Entering the cabin with flashlights and Colt 45 pistols, they carried Emmett away, "To teach

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