Government reopens investigation of Emmett Till slaying
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A 2017 book that revealed lies by a key figure in the Emmett Till case has prompted the U.S government to renew its investigation of the 1955 slaying, a federal official said Thursday.
The reopening of the case had stayed quiet until the contents of a federal report came to light earlier in the day. Till relatives and social justice activists welcomed a fresh look at the killing that shocked the country and stoked the civil rights movement, but acknowledged that the passage oftime could hamper justice.
Hours after news broke about the renewed probe, a federal official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that information in the 2017 book was what led investigators to re-examine the case. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
The book “The Blood of Emmett Till” by Timothy B. Tyson quotes a white woman, Carolyn Donham, as saying in a 2008 interview that she wasn’t truthful when she testified the black teen grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances at a Mississippi store six decades ago.
Mr. Tyson told reporters Thursday that he was contacted by the FBI weeks after his book was published in January 2017, and he furnished them interview recordings and other research materials. He doesn’t think his research alone would support new charges, but said investigators may be able to link it to other material in their possession.
“It’s possible that the investigation will turn up something. But there’s nothing that I know of, and nothing in my research, that is actionable, I don’t think,” he said. “But I’m not an attorney or a detective.”
Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democratic congressman who represents the Illinois district where Emmett was buried and where his mother lived, urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reopen the case last year, after the book was published.
“I am glad to see the federal government following through on this request. This case is not only critically important for the role it played in sparking the civil rights movement, but so that Emmett and his family receive the justice that is owed to them. It is vital that everyone — both victims and perpetrators — knows that heinous crimes of this nature will never go unpunished,” Mr. Rush said in a statement Thursday.
The reopening of the Till case was disclosed in a federal report sent to lawmakers in March that said the Justice Department had received unspecified “new information.” The report’s contents weren’t widely known until Thursday.
A potential witness with the 14-year-old Emmett in the store that day, cousin Wheeler Parker, said Thursday that he has talked with law enforcement about the case in recent months.
The prosecutor with jurisdiction over the Mississippi community where Emmett was abducted, District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, declined to comment on whether federal authorities had given him new information since they reopened the case.The Justice Department also declined to comment.
It’s unclear what new charges could result from a renewed investigation, said Tucker Carrington, a professor at the University of Mississippi law school.
Conspiracy or murder charges could be filed if anyone still alive is shown to have been involved, he said, but too much time likely has passed to prosecute anyone for other crimes, such as lying to investigators or in court. The case was closed in 2007 with authorities saying the suspects were dead.