Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. His death sparked outrage and activism across the nation and became a catalyst for the civil rights movement.
But what did the autopsy reveal about his cause and manner of death? In this post, we will examine the facts and the controversies surrounding Emmett Till’s autopsy.
What Was Found in Emmett Till’s Autopsy Report?
In 2005, Till’s remains were dug up for an autopsy. The unearthed remains were definitively confirmed as belonging to Till by anthropological studies, dental similarities with Till’s photos and DNA from Till’s family.
It had two fractured wrists, a damaged left femur and significant brain damage. The skull was discovered to have metallic shards that were compatible with rounds fired from a.45 calibre firearm.
What Happened With Emmett Till?
Emmett Till was visiting family in the Mississippi Delta, close to Money, Mississippi in August 1955 while on summer vacation. He spoke with the married, Caucasian, twenty-one-year-old owner of a nearby grocery shop, Carolyn Bryant.
Till was charged with making advances towards Bryant, touching her or whistling at her. Perhaps unintentionally, Till’s interactions with Bryant broke the unspoken rules of conduct that black men were expected to follow while engaging with white women in the South during the Jim Crow period.
A few evenings after the interaction, Emmett was kidnapped by Bryant’s spouse Roy and his armed half-brother J. W. Milam from Till’s great-uncle’s home. Before shooting him in the head and submerging his corpse in the Tallahatchie River, they battered and disfigured him.
Emmett Till’s body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River on August 31, 1955, three days after he was kidnapped, tortured and shot by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, the husband and the brother-in-law of Carolyn Bryant, the woman who accused him of flirting with her.
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Were Emmett Till Murderers Arrested?
Less than four weeks passed before the case went to trial. Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam were found not guilty of the murder by an all-male, all-white jury. Nobody else was ever charged or brought to justice for their part in the abduction or killing.
However, Bryant and Milam eventually admitted their guilt and revealed all the graphic details of their crime to a magazine writer. Both men, now deceased, later confessed their crime in 1956.
Where Was Emmett Till’s Funeral Services Held?
After Till’s corpse was brought back to Chicago, his mother insisted on having an open casket public burial ceremony at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ. Her choice brought attention to the shortcomings and weaknesses of American democracy in addition to American racism and the brutality of lynching.
Images of his disfigured corpse were published in black-oriented journals and newspapers, inspiring widespread black support and white pity throughout the United States. Tens of thousands attended his burial or saw his open coffin.
Mississippi’s denial of black civil rights came under intense criticism with national publications harshly criticising the state. In response to national outcry, local media and law enforcement authorities, who had earlier denounced the brutality against Till and demanded justice, defended Mississippians and provided support to the murders.
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