Summary: The Emmett Till Murder Trial

The Emmett Till Murder Trial How would you react to the unjustified murder of a 14 year old child? The 1955 trail of Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam for the murder of Emmett Till, a 14 year old African American boy, was one that helped spark the widespread movement for civil rights. Emmett Till was brutally murdered and thrown into the Tallahatchie River after he had apparently flirted with a white woman. Despite clear and adequate evidence against the defendants, an all-white jury had found them to be not guilty of the murder. This sparked outrage within the African American community and eventually contributed to the rising pressure to end racial segregation in the United States. On the evening of August 24, 1955 Emmett and a friend of his relatives had entered Bryant 's Grocery and Meat Market in Money, Mississippi to purchase candy. White cashier Carolyn Bryant accused the young boy of flirting with her during the transaction. Carolyn claimed that Emmett had tightly grabbed her hand and had remarked "How about a date, baby?" Three days after, Carolyn 's husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J. W. Wilson abducted Emmett from the home he was staying at. Just a day after Till 's disappearance, Roy …show more content…
W. Wilam had openly confessed to abducting Emmett Till from Wright 's home. Deputy Sheriff John Ed Cothran testified that after his arrest, Wilam freely admitted that he and Bryant had kidnapped Till. The next day of the trial, the state presented three surprise witnesses. These witnesses, all African Americans, placed Bryant and Wilam at Leslie Milam 's barn in the early morning of August 28th. They testified that they saw Bryant, Wilam, and several other men park a pickup truck on Leslie Milam 's property. They described hearing loud noises and "hollering" from the barn. It was believed that Milam 's barn was where Emmett 's brutal murder took its course. That afternoon, the state rested its case and the defense started to