James Byrd Jr. (May 2, 1949 - June 7, 1998) was an African-American man who was murdered by three white supremacists, in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russell Brewer and John William King dragged Byrd for three miles behind a pickup truck along the asphalt road. Byrd, who remained conscious throughout most of his ordeals, was killed about half way while dragging him as his body hit the edges of the culverts, cutting off his right arm and head. The killers drove for a mile and a half (2.4 km) before throwing his body in front of an African-American cemetery in Jasper. Byrd's lynching-by-dragging gives the impetus to pass the Texas hate crime law. This then led to federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act, passed on 22 October 2009, and which President Barack Obama signed into law on October 28, 2009.
There is no clear motive for the named crime. The king, who, before the assassination of Byrd, was recently released from a Texas prison, said he had been repeatedly raped in jail by black prisoners. Berry and Brewer also spent time in prison.
Brewer was executed through a deadly injection for this crime by the state of Texas on September 21, 2011. The King remains on death penalty while appeals are pending. Berry is sentenced to life imprisonment and will be eligible for parole in 2038.
Video Lynching of James Byrd Jr.
Korban
James Byrd Jr. born on May 2, 1949 in Beaumont, Texas, one of nine children, to Stella (1925 - 7 October 2010) and James Byrd Sr. (born 1924). Between 1969 and 1996, James Byrd Jr. jailed several times due to various offenses, including theft, forgery, and parole violations.
Ross Byrd, the only son of James Byrd Jr., has been involved with the "Family of Murder Victims for Reconciliation", an organization that opposes the death penalty. He has campaigned to save the lives of those who killed his father and appeared briefly in the Deadline documentary.
Maps Lynching of James Byrd Jr.
Murder
On June 7, 1998, Byrd, age 49, received a ride from Shawn Berry (age 24), Lawrence Russell Brewer (age 31) and John King (age 23). Berry, who was driving, knew Byrd from all over town. Instead of bringing Byrd home, the three men took Byrd to a remote county road outside town, beat him cruelly, urinated and defecated him and tied him with his ankles to their pickup truck before dragging him for about 3 miles ( 4.8 km)). Brewer later claimed that Byrd's throat had been cut by Berry before he was dragged. However, forensic evidence suggests that Byrd had been trying to keep his head while being dragged, and the autopsy suggested that Byrd was alive for a lot of dragging. Byrd died about half of the route dragged him after his right arm and his head broke off when his body hit a culvert. Byrd's brain and skull were found intact, further suggesting he maintained his awareness while being dragged.
Berry, Brewer, and King threw away the mutilated remains in front of an African-American church on Huff Creek Road, then went to a barbecue. A rider found a car beheaded by Byrd fixed the next morning. Along the area where Byrd was dragged, the police found a spanner with the words "Berry". They also found a match that read "Possum", which is the King's prison term. Police found 81 places littered with the remains of Byrd. "State law enforcement officials, along with the District Prosecutor of Jasper, determined that because Brewer and King were known as white supremacists, the killing was [...] racial crime." They decided to call the Federal Bureau of Investigation less than 24 hours after the discovery of the rest of Byrd. The special agent in charge of the Houston FBI office said they were helpful because of the "extreme situation" of the case.
King has several racist tattoos: a black man hanging on a tree, a Nazi symbol, the words "Aryan Pride," and a patch for a group of white supremacist prisoners known as the Confederate Knights of America. In a prison letter to Brewer who was intercepted by a prison official, the King proclaimed pride for the crime and said that he was conscious while committing the murder that he might have to die. "In spite of these results, we have made history, death before defiling, Sieg Heil!" The king wrote. An officer who investigated the case also testified that the witness said that the King had referred to The Turner Diaries after defeating Byrd.
Berry, Brewer, and King were tried and convicted of Byrd's murder. Brewer and King received the death penalty, while Berry was sentenced to life in prison. Brewer was executed with a deadly injection on September 21, 2011, while King remained in the death row of Texas.
Performers
Shawn Allen Berry
Shawn Allen Berry (born February 12, 1975) claims that Brewer and King are fully responsible for the crime. Brewer, however, testified that Berry had cut Byrd's throat before he was tied to the truck. The jury decided that there was little evidence to support this claim. As a result, Berry was spared from the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison. In 2008, Berry lived in Unit Ramsey, Texas Department of Justice, will be eligible first for parole in June 2038. In 2003, Berry was in custody of protection; he spends 23 hours per day in a 8-by-6 foot (2.4 x 1.8 m) cell, with an hour to practice. Berry married Christie Marcontell with his deputy. Marcontell was Berry's girlfriend at the time of the murder. They have two children together.
Lawrence Russell Brewer
Lawrence Russell Brewer (March 13, 1967 - September 21, 2011) is a white supremacist who, prior to the assassination of Byrd, has served prison terms for possession of drugs and robberies. He was released in 1991. After violating his parole requirement in 1994, Brewer was returned to prison. According to his testimony, he joins a white supremacist gang with the King in prison to protect himself from other inmates. Brewer and King became friends in Beto Unit prison. A psychiatrist testified that Brewer did not appear to be sorry for his crimes. Brewer was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. Brewer, TDCJ # 999327, was sentenced to death in Unit Polunsky, but was executed in the Huntsville Unit on September 21, 2011. A day before his execution, Brewer declared no remorse for his crime as he told KHOU 11 News in Houston: "As far as regrets, No, I'm not sorry No, I'll do it again, to tell you the truth. "
Before his execution Brewer ordered the last meal which included two fried chicken steaks doused with gravy with sliced ​​onions; a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger; cheese omelet with ground meat, tomatoes, onions, peppers and jalapeo; a bowl of fried okra with ketchup; a pound of grilled meat with half white bread; three full fajitas; pizza meat-lover; a pint of Blue Bell vanilla Ice Cream; a slice of peanut butter with crushed peanuts; and three root beer. When food is served, he tells officials that he is not hungry and does not eat it. The food was discarded, and prompted State Senator John Whitmire to ask a Texas jail official to end a 87-year-old feeding tradition to condemn the prisoners. The correctional executive director responds that the practice has been effectively terminated immediately.
John William King
John William King (born November 3, 1974) is an old friend of Berry. He was accused of beating Byrd with a stick and then dragging him behind the pickup truck until he died. The king, who before the murder was recently released from a Texas prison, said he had been repeatedly raped in jail by black prisoners. He was found guilty and sentenced to death for his role in Byrd's kidnapping and murder. The king remains in the death row at Polunsky Unit.
Reaction to murder
Many aspects of Byrd's murder echo the lynching tradition. These include mutilation or beheading and debauchery, such as barbecue or picnic, either during or after the death penalty without trial. The assassination of Byrd is heavily criticized by Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King Center as an act of malignant racism and it focuses national attention on the prevalence of white prison supremacy gangs.
The victim's family created the James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing after his death. Dennis Rodman's basketball star paid for their funeral and gave the Byrd $ 25,000 family. Opponents of Don King's promoter gave Byrd $ 100,000 children for their tuition fees.
In 1999 Chantal Akerman, inspired by William Faulkner's literary work, set out to make a movie about the beauty of South America. However, upon arriving at the location (in Jasper, Texas) and studying the brutal racist murders, he changed his focus. Akerman made Sud (French for "South"), a meditation on events surrounding crime and the history of racial violence in the United States. In 2003, a film about crime, titled Jasper, Texas , was produced and aired in Showtime. That same year, a documentary called Two Towns of Jasper, created by filmmaker Marco Williams and Whitney Dow, aired on the PBS series P.O.V. .
While at the WARW radio station in Washington, D.C., DJ Doug Tracht (also known as "The Greaseman") made derogatory remarks referring to James Byrd after playing Lauryn Hill's song "Doo Wop (That Thing)". The February 1999 incident has been a disaster for Tracht's radio career, sparking protests from black-and-white listeners. He was quickly dismissed from WARW and lost his position as deputy sheriff volunteer in Falls Church, Virginia.
In May 2004, two white men were arrested and charged with criminal offenses for desecrating James Byrd Jr.'s grave. with racial insults and profanity.
Impact on US politics
Some advocacy groups, such as the NAACP National Voter Fund, made an issue about the case during George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000. They accused Bush of implicit racism since, as Texas governor, he opposed hate crime laws. Also, citing previous commitments, Bush could not appear at Byrd's cemetery. Because two of the three killers were sentenced to death and the third to live in prison (all accused and convicted of mass murder, the highest crime rate in Texas), Governor Bush stated that "we do not have to be tougher Constitution ". The 77th Texas Legislature passed the Hrd James Byrd Jr. Crime Law. With the signature of Governor Rick Perry, who inherited Bush's unexpired term of office, the law became the law of the state of Texas in 2001. In 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act expands the 1969 US federal hatred of legal hatred to include crimes that are sexually motivated or perceived by actual victims, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
Music attribute
On the 2001 album " Pieces of Me " by singer/songwriter Lori McKenna, the song "Pink Sweater" is dedicated to Byrd and condemns the killers and references their death penalty with restraint, "I will be one in pink sweater, dancing around when you go. "In 2010, Alabama musician Matthew Mayfield wrote, recorded, and released a song in honor of Byrd. The song, titled "Still Alive," is the fourth song at Mayfield's EP You're Not Home . "Still Alive" is clearly linked to the sharp bitterness of racism and likens the crime of such hatred to the genocide. "Tell Me Why", featuring Mary J. Blige, mentions Byrd on Will Smith's fourth album, Lost and Found . Houston rapper E.S.G. mentions Byrd on the song "Realest Rhymin" from his 1999 album Shinin 'N' Grindin ', states "... let Kluxlu know that I'mma blast ya/hear how ya done James Byrd down in Jasper. "Byrd's son Ross recorded a rap album Undenisable Resurrection and dedicated it to his father.
"The New Hell" by the death metal band The Famine mentions Byrd on their album The Architects of Guilt (2011). "Jasper", by Konfrontasi Camp, is the fifth song on the album The Object in the Mirror Is Closer Than They Appear (2000). "Guitar Drag" by voice artist Christian Marclay is a video and sound installation of the murder of James Byrd (2000). "I Heard 'Em Say" by Ryan Bingham is about Byrd's killing and the racial climate around Jasper after the crime (2012). "The Southern Thing" on the Southern Rock Opera's Drive-By Truckers album mentions the incident, saying "Hate the only thing my truck wants to haul".
Houston rap group Geto Boys reference murder in the song "Eye 4 an Eye" from their 1998 album Da Good da Bad & amp; da Ugly .
Byrd's killing was the subject of the poet Jeffrey Thomson's "Achilles in Jasper, Texas."
References
Further reading
- Ainslie, Ricardo. Long Dark Road: Bill King and Murder in Jasper, Texas . University of Texas Press, 2004.
- The king, Joyce. Hatred Hate: The Dragging Story in Jasper, Texas . Pantheon, 2002.
- Temple-Raston, Dina. A Death in Texas: A Story of Race, Killing, and Small Town Struggle for Redemption . Henry Holt and Co., January 6, 2002.
External links
- Remember His Name - From Hate To Heal: Documentary Length of House Path in Production by Lizard Productions
- James Byrd Jr. in the Search of the Mausoleum
- Jasper, Texas on IMDb - a television movie
- Politically Correct Murder and Media Bias by Larry Elder - comparing media coverage of Byrd's case with Ken Tillery's murder
- NAACP National Voter Fund - Campaign ads 2000
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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