Emmett Till’s story goes down as one of the most catastrophic and gut-wrenching events of all time. What was supposed to be a trip to Mississippi to visit family quickly turned into a horrific nightmare for the 14-year-old who was accused of whistling at a white woman by the name of Carolyn Bryant. After such allegations were made, Till, residing in Chicago, was violently beaten, shot, lynched, and then dumped into the river.
The two men in question, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, had been acquitted of all of their charges at the time by an all-white jury. However, just a year later, they went on to admit to the act in a magazine interview.
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The family of Emmett never got any justice for his passing. Last December, after attempting to get the 1955 case reopened, the Department of Justice ended its investigation due to “insufficient evidence.”
Nonetheless, his loved ones still haven’t given up. After nearly 70 years of hoping for a new outcome, his family has reason to believe they have found it. Last week, members of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation searched a Mississippi courthouse for evidence. While there, they discovered the arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant.
The warrant had been plastered in papers at the time, but, apparently, the sheriff didn’t want to trouble Carolyn because she had two young children. While Till’s family is eager to serve and charge the woman who is now in her 80s and living in North Carolina, it might not be feasible.
According to Ronald Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi, unserved warrants have a time limit if no new evidence is provided.
HNHH will make updates on this story as they come.