Trump weighs posthumous pardon for boxing champ
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is considering a posthumous pardon for boxing's first black heavyweight champion more than 100 years after the late Jack Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury of accompanying a white woman across state lines.
Trump tweeted over the weekend t hat actor Sylvester Stallone had called to bring Johnson's story to his attention.
“His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial,” Trump wrote on Twitter from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!”
Johnson is a legendary figure in boxing and crossed over into popular culture decades ago with biographies, dramas and documentaries following the civil rights era.
Most famously, his story was fictionalized for the play “The Great White Hope,” starring James Earl Jones, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for best play in 1969.
Johnson was convicted in 1913 for violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposes. After seven years as a fugitive following his conviction, Johnson returned to the United States and turned himself in. He served about a year in federal prison and was released in 1921. He died in 1946 in an auto crash.
His great-great niece has pressed Trump for a pardon, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., have been pushing Johnson's case for years.
In Jim Crow America, Johnson was one of the most despised AfricanAmericans of his generation, humiliating white fighters and flaunting his affection for white women.
The son of former slaves, he defeated Tommy Burns for the heavyweight title in 1908.
The Justice Department makes decisions on potential pardons through an application process and typically makes recommendations to the president.
The general DOJ policy is to not accept applications for posthumous pardons for federal convictions, but Trump has shown a willingness to work around the DOJ process.