Just Arrest Her Lying Ass Already
Emmitt Till was tortured and murdered in 1955 after Carolyn Bryant Donham lied about him.
Not all things in life are complicated. Take for example the question of whether or not Carolyn Bryant Donham should be arrested and charged with her role in the murder of Emmitt Till back in August of 1955. Last week, we learned an arrest warrant for Donham was discovered in the basement of a Mississippi courthouse. The warrant is over 65 years-old and questions about its legality have already started being asked.
However, many community groups, activists, relatives of Till and just good humans from all walks of life, want justice to be served. Especially after Donham herself admitted in a 2017 interview that she made the whole story up of the events that led to Till’s murder. How many Black American men in the history of the United States were murdered and/or imprisoned because of a false accusation by a white woman? Too many to count or document accurately. Which is why it is vital that federal or local prosecutors take Donham into custody.
“In 2017, when the only known accomplice, Carolyn Bryant Donham - who is still alive and now well into her 80s - appeared to admit to an author of a book about Emmett Till and his case, that she lied to her husband, and during Emmett’s murder trial, by falsely claiming that Emmett made sexual advances and physically touched her. Carolyn Bryant Donham’s false claim and involvement are the actions that began the tragic chain of events leading to Emmett’s murder,” read a statement from the Emmitt Till Legacy Foundation.
Till’s cousin Deborah Watts and her daughter Terri Watts lead the foundation. They both have renewed their calls for Donham to be prosecuted. Donham has declined to speak to the media since the news broke that a warrant for her arrest had been discovered.
During the murder trial, Bryant testified that Till grabbed her hand while she was stocking candy and said, “How about a date, baby?” She testified after she freed herself from his grasp, Till followed her to the cash register, grabbed her waist and said, “what’s the matter baby, can’t you take it?”
Carolyn Bryant Donham then and now.
Donham was 21 at the time. Till 14. Even if Till made the comments and grabbed her hand, which is highly doubtful, Donham could have just smacked the hell out of Till and sent him on his way. Instead, she, her husband Roy Bryant and brother J.W. Milan decided to show up armed in the middle of the night at Till’s relative house where she identified him to the men. They then kidnapped Till, tortured and murdered him and got away with it after an all-white jury acquitted them. The men would admit years later in a magazine what they had done, which was an additional insult to injury. So, we have the two people who murdered Till, admitting they did it and the person who lied about what happened admitting that they lied, but prosecutors see no urgency to prosecute. You wonder why citizens have no faith in the U.S. judicial system?
While the murderers are now dead and gone, their lying accomplice is still here. Nobody cares if the evidence in slim. Nobody cares if this means a new investigation needs to be reopened. We only care that the person who is responsible for one of the most reprehensible crimes ever committed against a child in America is held accountable for her actions. Carolyn Bryant Donham, whose last known whereabouts are in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been able to live her life. Something Till was not able to do. If we are still arresting and prosecuting Nazi prison guards, then we sure as bloody hell can arrest Carolyn Bryant Donham. There is no statute of limitations on murder, so go arrest that old ass and let’s get to prosecuting prosecutors.