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US House approves anti-lynching legislation

February 28, 2020

Via: Jurist

The US House of Representatives approved the Emmett Till Antilynching Act by a 410-4 majority Wednesday, aiming to make lynching a federal hate crime.

The bill is named after 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African-American Chicago boy who was kidnapped and lynched while visiting family in Mississippi in 1955 after allegedly flirting with a white woman.

“Lynching is an American evil. Today, we send a strong message in that violence—and race-based violence, in particular—has no place in America,” wrote Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush, who sponsored the legislation, on Twitter Wednesday.

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