OF JAMES BYRD JR, ANTHONY HILL, AND DEATH BY DRAGGING IN POST-RACIAL AMERICA

Today is the 12TH anniversary of the death of Mr. James Byrd, Jr.,  of Jasper, Texas. Mr. Byrd’s horrific murder shocked a nation because of the viciousness of the crime. He was murdered on June 7, 1998 by three racist thugs who beat him, tied him to the back of a pickup truck with a heavy logging chain, drug him over three miles of road pavement, his body swerving from side to side, until his head and right arm torn off when his body hit a culvert. The murderers then took Mr. Byrd’s torso and threw the remains onto the grounds of a Black cemetary.

James Byrd, Jr.  (May 2, 1949 – June 7, 1998)

The three murderers were Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and John William King.

Shawn Allen Berry

The driver of the truck, Berry was the most difficult to convict of the three defendants because there was a lack of evidence to suggest that he himself was a racist. Berry had also claimed that Brewer and King were entirely responsible for the crime. Brewer, however, testified that it was Berry who 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 the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. His parole eligibility date is June 7, 2038.

Lawrence Russell Brewer

Brewer was a white supremacist who, prior to Byrd’s murder, had served a prison sentence for drug possession and burglary. He was paroled in 1991. After violating his parole conditions in 1994, Brewer was returned to prison. According to his court testimony, he joined a white supremacist gang with King in prison in order to safeguard himself from other inmates.  A psychiatrist testified that Brewer did not appear repentant for his crimes. Brewer was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death.

John William King

King was accused of beating Byrd with a bat and then dragging him behind a truck until he died. King had previously claimed that he had been gang-raped in prison by black inmates.  Although he had no previous record of racism, King had joined a white supremacist prison gang, allegedly for self-protection.  He was found guilty and sentenced to death for his role in Byrd’s kidnapping and murder. 

 SOURCE

Black Man Fatally Dragged In a Possible Racial Killing

By CAROL MARIE CROPPER

James Byrd Jr, who is black, is dragged to his death from back of pickup truck, near Jasper, Tex, rural area known for racist and Klan activity; three white men, Shawn A Berry, Lawrence R Brewer and John W King, are charged with murder; investigators suspect racial motivation; map; photos

June 10, 1998

RELATED LINKS:   JAMES BYRD, JR.

Now there is another dragging of a Black man.

Per the following article, Gregory Collins, 19, has been arrested for the murder of Anthony Hill, a 30-year-old Black man. Collins is accused of shooting Anthony Hill in the head and then chaining him to the back of a truck and dragging his body for several miles. Collins is charged with murder and made his first court appearance Thursday. No bond was set at the time of the following article’s press release.

SC police: Black man shot to death, body dragged

By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER (AP) – 4 days ago

NEWBERRY, S.C. — The shooting death of a black man whose body was dragged for several miles is being investigated as a possible hate crime after the arrest of a white man he worked with, South Carolina’s state police chief said. 

This undated booking photo provided by the Newberry Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina, shows Gregory Collins. Collins, 19, has been charged with murder after authorities say he shot a black South Carolina man to death, then dragged the man’s body behind his truck for several miles. State police say the men worked together at a chicken processing plant and had spent most of Tuesday together before Anthony Hill, 30, was shot. (AP Photo/Newberry Sheriff’s Office

Gregory Collins, 19, is charged with murder and made his first court appearance Thursday. No bond was set and he did not yet have an attorney, Newberry County Magistrate Ron Halfacre said. 

The FBI was in Newberry County in central South Carolina on Wednesday assisting in the investigation of the shooting death of Anthony Hill, 30, State Law Enforcement Division director Reggie Lloyd told The State newspaper. 

“We don’t yet have a definitive motive for all this,” Lloyd said. 

Hill’s body was found around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 176 and Newberry County sheriff’s deputies followed a trail of blood from Hill’s body back to Collins’ mobile home. 

For several hours, Collins refused to come out and SLED agents fired tear gas into the home, prompting him to surrender, Lloyd said. Collins was not armed when he was arrested, but Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said he had an empty pistol holster on his side. 

Hill died from a single gunshot wound to the head, Newberry County Coroner Craig Newton said. Hill was dead before he was dragged, according to deputies. 

Hill and Collins worked together at a chicken processing plant in Newberry County, Lloyd said. Neither man had a serious criminal record. There was some other evidence that linked the men that Lloyd did not want to discuss. 

“We don’t want to attribute something to Collins that isn’t necessarily true,” Lloyd said. “But out of precaution, given the circumstances, we are investigating the racial angle.” 

Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said Collins and Hill spent most of Tuesday together and were at Collins’ mobile home late Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning when Hill was shot. 

Foster said Collins then attached a nylon rope around Hill’s body and began dragging it behind his truck, apparently until the rope snapped several miles later. 

Collins’ mobile home is tucked in a rural, wooded area near Interstate 26, far from the center of this quaint city known for its opera house and historic downtown. 

The tree-lined road along which authorities say Hill’s body was dragged for nearly 11 miles winds through hilly areas before opening up into gated properties of large country homes interspersed with older farmhouses. 

On Thursday, a foot-wide dark stain was visible in the right hand lane of the asphalt roadway, a mark authorities planned to wash away later in the afternoon. 

Hill’s body was found near a local elementary school, whose children were on a half-day schedule. The local high school was scheduled to hold commencement exercises Thursday evening. 

One of Collins’ neighbors described him as a quiet man who was up early for work each day. 

“He was like a loner, a quiet kind of person,” Dakota Dye, 19, said Thursday, standing outside her mobile home two lots down from Collins’ property. “I kept to our business, and he kept to his.” 

Solicitor Jerry Peace, the local prosecutor for Newberry County, said he had been briefed on the case and hoped to speak with federal authorities later Thursday about their potential involvement. 

Associated Press Writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia contributed to this report. SOURCE

Post-racial America?

No way.

The legacy of America’s long and barbaric history of race hatred precludes celebrating too soon of a so-called post-racial America, as this new case most certainly shows.