Biden signs Emmett Till Antilynching Act first time lynching is a federal hate crime in US history

President Biden signs the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law at the White House Rose Garden, making lynching a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. The law passed the House 422-3 and the Senate unanimously. It is named for Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955, whose open-casket funeral helped spark the civil rights movement. Congress had attempted to pass an anti-lynching law more than 200 times over more than 100 years. Attendees include Rev. Wheeler Parker, a cousin of Till who witnessed his kidnapping, and Michelle Duster, great-granddaughter of journalist Ida B. Wells.