Protesters Emmett Till arrive as they storm the high-end facility looking for Carolyn Bryant Donham
Emmett Till protesters stormed an upscale living facility in search of the woman accused of staging a lynch mob with him after a 1955 arrest warrant was discovered in a Mississippi courthouse.
Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 80 years old, living in Raleigh, North Carolina, accused Till of whistling at her in a grocery store in Money, Mississippi, in 1955.
A week later, 14-year-old Till was kidnapped, tortured, shot dead and dumped in the Tallahatchie River, where his body was found swollen and mutilated three days later. His open coffin sent shockwaves across the country.
Donham’s husband, Roy Bryant, and half-brother, JW Milam, were arrested for his murder, but later acquitted. The couple eventually admitted guilt, but could not be prosecuted due to the double danger law.
Last week, an uncorroborated warrant for Donham’s arrest was found in the basement of a Mississippi courthouse, prompting Till’s family and activists once again to call for justice.
Protesters are searching for Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 80, of Raleigh, NC, after a 1955 arrest warrant in her name was unearthed in the basement of a Mississippi courthouse last week. Protesters accused her of sending a lynch mob after Emmitt Till, 14, when her husband and half-brother admitted to killing the boy.
Emmett Till protesters stormed an upscale living facility in search of Donham, who was accused of staging a lynch mob on teenagers in 1955.
Elders living in the facility looked confused when activists barged in and asked if they knew her
‘You can’t ignore this,’ Priscilla Sterling, Till’s cousin, told WRAL. ‘If this is what it takes to change our thinking, behavior and attitudes in society, then it will. This will do. Execute command. ‘
One of the protesters later told a local media: ‘I understand Miss Bryant is in her mid to late 80s, but understandably, this is the crime she committed. committed at the age of 22. 60 years later, the time has come. make her responsible. ‘
Donham’s daughter-in-law, Marsha Bryant, said the elderly woman had ‘nothing to do with it.’ She also claimed relatives were ‘terrified’ by Till’s murder.
‘They think she should either die or go to jail forever. They think what happened to Emmett Till will happen to her,’ Marsha told Clarion Ledger.
Activists have pasted ‘deportation notices’ to the addresses listed in Donham’s public records
Activists have visited at least three residences linked to Donham
On Wednesday, Chief Counsel to Black Attorneys for Justice, Malik Shabazz, and other activists stormed a senior living center in search of her.
Shabazz and the group are seen descending a heavy flight of stairs in the senior living facility, which has not been named, in hopes of confronting the old woman.
‘We are on the move. We don’t know how they’re hiding this white woman down here, they’re hiding Carolyn Bryant Donham,’ Shabazz said on Facebook Live. ‘They’re calling the police, but we’re on the move. We know she’s here. ‘
The group descended into a brightly lit room, where elderly people were in wheelchairs and looked confused as activists – some wearing what appeared to be bulletproof vests – entered.
Live-streamed video showed protesters knocking on doors calling Carolyn Donham’s name as they continued their search. But unable to find her, they left the building
One woman asked, ‘What does she look like?’ when asked if they know Donham.
Shabazz said: ‘Emmett Till’s false accuser who said Emmett Till sexually assaulted her…she lives in this building.’
The unidentified woman replied: ‘No, honey, she doesn’t live at this facility. She lives in a nursing home, this is not a nursing home. ‘
The woman went on to say that Donham lived in a nursing home – or she had heard on TV – and dodged to answer questions about the exact facility the woman was staying in.
Donham, photographed at a younger age. She accused Till of whistling at her in a grocery store
Donham’s husband, Roy Bryant, (right) and half-brother, JW Milam, (left) were arrested for beating his wife, but were acquitted. The couple later admitted guilt, but could not be prosecuted due to double danger law
The group then left the facility through the side door, chanting: ‘No justice, no peace’ and ‘black power’.
Activists also approached two other residences listed under Donham’s name, to stick an ‘deportation notice’ on the front door.
Raleigh police are said to have arrived on the scene minutes after protesters entered the building, according to The Daily Beast, prompting the facility to briefly close.
Activists are still looking for Donham.
The Justice Department closed Till’s case in December, claiming no further prosecution could be filed because a federal hate crime didn’t exist in 1955. It also said the ‘statutory statute’ for a rights case citizen has expired.
Emmett Till’s brutal methods of torture and murder in 1955 became a turning point in the American Civil Rights movement.
Emmett Till’s fateful visit to his family in Mississippi in 1955 became one of the horrifying events that gave rise to the civil rights movement.
The trip quickly turned tragic after the 14-year-old boy was kidnapped, tortured and killed after witnesses said he whistled and grabbed white woman Carolyn Bryant Donham as she worked in the field. a local store.
Days after the accusations, on August 28, 1995, Till was at home with his cousin when two white men, Carolyn’s husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother JW Milam, barge in and drag Till out of the house.
Emmett Till’s fateful visit (pictured) to family in Mississippi in 1955 became one of the horrifying separations that made up the civil rights movement.
The 14-year-old boy (pictured) was kidnapped, tortured and killed after witnesses said he whistled and grabbed white woman Carolyn Bryant Donham as she worked in a local store
Two men brutally beat the teenager before dragging him to the banks of the Tallahatchie River, where they shot him in the head and dumped his body in the water.
Days after the brutal murder, Till’s body was pulled from the river, where it was thrown after being weighed with a gin cotton fan.
The arrest became known nationally after Till’s devastated mother Mamie Bradley insisted on a funeral in an open coffin in Chicago to display his tortured body and shed light on violence perpetrated against blacks in the South.
Thousands of people flocked to Roberts Temple Church of God to see evidence of the hate crime in which Till’s mother performed an act of bravery when she felt the world needed to know what had happened. .
As the murder gained more attention, two publications published graphic images of Till’s corpse, resulting in the teenager’s death being condemned nationally.
After weeks of indignation, Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-white Mississippi jury. Months later, they confessed in a pay magazine interview.
Till’s lynching became a pivotal point in the civil rights movement and people continued to campaign for Till’s justice decades later.
In 2017, a book cited Donham, now in her 80s, as saying she was lying when she said that Till grabbed her, whistled and performed sex acts while she was working in the office. a store.
The murder sparked waves of the civil rights movement after Till’s mother (pictured with her son) insisted on an open coffin to display his tortured body
The shocking statements prompted the Justice Department to reopen the investigation. The TFBI was unable to prove her alleged lies, but issued a rebuttal about the validity of Donham’s testimony after the investigation ended in December.
After Donham’s accusations of lying, she told the FBI she never reiterated her accusations while relatives also denied the accusations.
At the time, officials said historian Timothy B. Tyson, author of the 2017 book ‘The Blood of Emmett Till’, was unable to produce any audio recordings or recordings in which Donham is accused. forced to admit to lying about her encounter with the teenager.
Till’s family has never been convicted of the crime, while Brtyant and Milam, both now dead, are not on trial again.
