Emmett Till marker in Mississippi toppled but not vandalized

JACKSON, Miss. – An Emmett Till historical marker in the Mississippi Delta will be repaired or replaced after it was knocked off the pole that supports it, says the president of an advertising agency that made the sign.

Although a previous version of this metal sign was vandalized and another Till historical marker in the area was shot multiple times, Allan Hammons said Friday that he does not see malicious intent in the damage this time.

“It was not defaced in any way,” Hammons told The Associated Press.

Till was a Black 14-year-old from Chicago who was abducted and killed in August 1955 while visiting relatives in Mississippi. Witnesses said he whistled at a white woman working in a store in the small community of Money, north of

Greenwood. Days later, his body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where it was tossed after being weighted down with a cotton gin fan.