Our Atlanta-Journal Constitution Op-Ed (Emmett Till)
"The federal government’s decision to reopen the Emmett Till murder case has prompted much hope that justice will finally be served. While this optimism is understandable, our three-year investigation has led us to be skeptical about solving the mystery. We found and interviewed several key witnesses, two of whom were later interviewed by filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp.
The theory that more than two people took part in the crime is not new. The two white defendants at the trial, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, later confessed after they were acquitted. In his testimony at the trial, Willie Reed, a black high school student, stated that he saw Milam and two or three other whites and three blacks (including Till) in a pickup truck in Drew, Mississippi several hours after the kidnapping. Reed stated that the truck pulled in an equipment shed in Drew, Mississippi and that he then heard sounds of a beating." Read the rest here.