JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The gun used in the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till is now on display for the public to see, 70 years after the killing.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled the .45-caliber pistol and its holster during a news conference Thursday, which is the 70th anniversary of Till's murder.
The gun belonged to John William “J.W.” Milam who, alongside Roy Bryant, abducted Till from his great-uncle's home on Aug. 28, 1955. The white men tortured and killed Till after the teenager was accused of whistling at a white woman in a rural Mississippi grocery store.
Till's body was later found in the Tallahatchie River. Bryant and Milam were charged with Till's murder, but they were acquitted by an all-white-male jury.
Deborah Watts, the co-founder and executive director of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and Till’s cousin, said she has mixed emotions about the weapon being on display.
“It is an emotional day for us, and I just don’t think that associating a murder weapon with the 70th anniversary is appropriate at this time,” Watts said.
Watts wants Till’s story to be preserved. However, she sees the weapon not as an artifact, but as a piece of evidence in a struggle for justice that is still ongoing.
According to a press release from MDAH, Wheeler Parker, another of Till's cousins, who was there when Till was kidnapped, is grateful to see the artifacts in a museum for the public to see.
“I think it’s good because it brings closure,” Parker was quoted as saying. “I hope you guys can find the ring and cotton gin. Thank you for doing this.”
The gun was previously in the possession of a family in the Mississippi Delta, who donated it on the condition of anonymity. It will be displayed in the Emmett Till exhibit at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The gun was authenticated using the serial number, which matched the one written in FBI reports on Till's murder.
Michael Morris, the director of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History, said he hopes the anniversary will cause people to reflect on how Till's story has impacted societal progress.
“To me, that’s the legacy. It’s not just his death. It’s the way that he still finds a way to inspire folks to be the change that they want to see in the world,” Morris said.
Till's murder was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Thousands came to his funeral, and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted on an open casket so the country could see the gruesome state of her son's body.
Sophie Bates, The Associated Press
