FBI begins Emmett Till exhumation News
FBI begins Emmett Till exhumation

[JURIST] In hopes of finding clues about his 1955 murder [JURIST report], FBI personnel Wednesday began unearthing [JURIST report] a concrete vault containing the remains of Emmett Till [Wikipedia profile]. FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said that the reason for exhumation was to dispel rumors that the body was not that of Emmett Till and to hopefully find clues to provide Mississippi authorities with evidence that could lead to additional charges in the murder investigation. Till was fourteen when he was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Mississippi and murdered, reportedly for whistling at a white woman. The publicity surrounding his brutal slaying helped propel the civil rights movement into a new era. Two white men charged with Till's murder were acquitted by an all-white jury [PBS trial overview] though they later confessed in a Look magazine interview [text]. Both men have since passed away. AP has more.

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