Emmett Till's Second Trial

Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till was born on July 25, 1941, and was a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered in Money, Mississippi, his murder trial, The State of Mississippi vs. Ray Bryant and J.W Milam, is granted as being one of the key events that energized the Civil Rights Movement. On August 20, 1955, Mamie Till put her son on a train to visit relatives in Northern Mississippi. Then on the 24th Emmett Till and his cousins went over to Bryant’s Meat and Grocery Market in Money Mississippi. According to Simeon Wright, Emmett whistled, “It was a loud wolf whistle, a big-city “whee wheeeee!” and it caught us all by surprise. We all looked at each other, realizing that Bobo had violated a longstanding unwritten law, a social

Wright testified at the murder trial as to the circumstances of Emmett’s abduction by two men he identified as Mr. Bryant and Mr. Milam.” (New York Times - Grand) Mr. Wright’s testimony helped point the jury in the direction that Bryant and Milam are

W. Kellum told the jury today that ‘your forefathers will turn over in their graves’’ if they convicted two white men of murdering a 14-year-old Chicago negro boy.” (Kolin)This quote proves that the defense had told the jury to make sure that they come to a verdict of not guilty. The outcome of the trial was clearly fixed, for example, “A fourteen-year-old boy, Emmett Till, had been brutally murdered and his body thrown into the Tallahatchie River, but despite clear evidence that two white men committed the crime, an all-white jury returned a "Not Guilty" verdict after just an hour of deliberation.” (Linder Background)This quote proves that the jury was very inclined to reach the verdict of not guilty just because Bryant and Milam are white. The outcome of the trial helped was a major factor leading to the civil rights movement, according to Douglas Linder, “The trial of Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam for the murder of Till shook the conscience of a nation and helped spark the movement for civil rights for black Americans.” (Linder Emmett) This quote proves how the trial affected the rest of the nation. In the end, the way the trial was handled and ended was clearly rigged and in favor of the white