Emmett Till’s accuser allegedly admits she lied about claims that led to his murder

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The woman who accused Emmett Till of flirting that led to his murder has now allegedly admitted she lied.

Emmett Till’s accuser allegedly admits she lied

Vanity Fair reports that Timothy Tyson, the author of a new book titled “The Blood of Emmett Till”, spoke with Carolyn Bryant Donham, who was 21-years-old when she accused Till of advances towards her.

Donham’s claims against Till infuriated two white men, J.W. Milam and his half-brother Roy Bryant. The men abducted and murdered Till three nights later, leaving his body bludgeoned, bruised and left at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.

• An all-white jury acquitted Bryant and Milam of their crimes.
• Milam and Bryant later admitted to their crimes in a Look Magazine interview, which paid them $3,000 for their account.

Donham, who is now 82, testified at the trial. Her testimony further criminalized Till, who meant little to the jury of white men charged with seeking justice for a young Black man accused of whistling at a White woman.

Interview

However, as Donham allegedly revealed to Tyson in his new book: “That part’s not true.”

“Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him,” she said.

Donham, who allegedly told Tyson that she couldn’t remember what happened during the remainder of the evening, took the stand during the trial and claimed she was “scared to death” in the moments that Till approached her.

According to Vanity Fair:

She had asserted that Till had grabbed her and verbally threatened her. She said that while she was unable to utter the “unprintable” word he had used (as one of the defense lawyers put it), “he said [he had]’”—done something – “with white women before.’” Then she added, “I was just scared to death.” A version of her damning allegation was also made by the defendant’s lawyers to reporters. (The jury did not hear Carolyn’s words because the judge had dismissed them from the courtroom while she spoke, ruling that her testimony was not relevant to the actual murder. But the court spectators heard her, and her testimony was put on the record because the defense wanted her words as evidence in a possible appeal in the event that the defendants were convicted.)

Tyson is the first author to interview Donham, who actually approached Tyson initially because she was writing her memoir.

Vanity Fair reports that Donham didn’t “officially repent” for her actions by attempting to join racial justice groups.  She did, however, admitted to feeling “tender sorrow” for Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Mobley, who died in 2003, had committed her life to fighting for civil rights.

“When Carolyn herself later lost one of her sons, she thought about the grief that Mamie must have felt and grieved all the more,” Tyson reportedly wrote in his book.

Tyson’s book will be published next week. This telling story will sure disclose more about the actions of all involved that cost Till’s life.