Family: Emmett Till’s murder records raise questions in the wake of anniversary
A family member of Emmett Till is speaking out following the release of thousands of federal records tied to his 1955 lynching.
By Eboni Anderson
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WASHINGTON (WAPT) — A family member of Emmett Till is speaking out following the release of thousands of federal records tied to his 1955 lynching.
The U.S. Department of Justice last week made public more than 6,000 pages of documents from its investigation into the case. Till’s cousin, Priscilla Till, said many of the files were heavily redacted, leaving her with questions about why information was withheld.
“They are not within the files, and I’m trying to figure out as a family member why don’t we have that information, why did the Department of Justice come see us days before releasing the files — this was done purposefully,” Till said.
Aug. 28 marks the anniversary of the murder that helped spark the civil rights movement. Till was 14 years old when he was abducted and brutally killed in Money, Mississippi, after being accused of whistling at a white woman.
The Justice Department has reopened the case several times in the past two decades, most recently in 2021. That year, federal investigators closed the inquiry without filing charges, saying there was not enough evidence to prove that a key witness lied about her account of the events leading to Till’s murder.
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