Texas: James Byrd Brutal Dragging Death By White Supremacist, Horrific Racist Hate Crime, 22 Yrs Ago

[appalachiablue]

- John William King (left) and James Byrd Jr. (right).

- 'Texas executes John William King in racist dragging death of James Byrd Jr.'- Texas Tribune, *April 24, 2019. King and 2 other white men were convicted in the brutal East Texas murder of Byrd, who was black. King was the 2nd man executed for the crime; another man is serving a life sentence. - Excerpts, Ed: -

It’s been more than two decades since an infamous hate crime in East Texas, where three white men were convicted of chaining a black man to the back of a pickup truck, dragging him for miles and then dumping the remains of his body in front of a church. On Wednesday evening, John William King, 44, became the second and final man to be executed in the 1998 murder case of James Byrd Jr. Lawrence Brewer was put to death in 2011 for the crime, and Shawn Berry is serving a life sentence.

King had previously been involved in a white supremacist prison gang, and he was notoriously covered in racist tattoos, including Ku Klux Klan symbols, a swastika and a visual depiction of a lynching, according to court documents. But King maintained that he was innocent in Byrd’s murder — claiming that Berry dropped King and Brewer off at their shared apartment before Byrd was beaten and dragged to death.

Byrd’s brutal murder drew a spotlight on the small town of Jasper and violent racism in the modern world. Evidence at trial showed police found most of the 49-year-old’s body on June 7, 1998, with three miles of blood, drag marks and body parts — including his head — on the road behind it. At the beginning of the gruesome trail, police found evidence of a fight, and Byrd’s hat and cigarette butts later tied to King, Berry and Brewer, according to court documents. The three men were arrested shortly afterward...
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/04/24/texas-execution-john-william-king-james-byrd/
_________________

- 'White supremacist executed for killing black man by dragging him behind truck.' ABC News, *April 24, 2019. James Byrd Jr., who was black, was murdered by three white men on June 7, 1998.

White supremacist John William King was executed on Wednesday, more than 20 years after he killed James Byrd Jr. in a horrifying hate crime. King was one of three white men convicted of murdering Byrd, who was black, on June 7, 1998, near Jasper, Texas. Byrd, a 49-year-old father of 3, was abducted, beaten, chained to the back of a pickup truck and then dragged down a country road. He was dragged for nearly 3 miles and was alive for at least 2 of those miles, according to The Associated Press.

King, 44, orchestrated the attack, according to the AP. He was sentenced to death in 1999. The other killers were Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed in September 2011, and Shawn Allen Berry, who is serving life in prison. In 1999, Byrd's family founded the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing, a non-profit organization that works to promote "racial healing and cultural diversity through education."

Byrd's gruesome slaying led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. The legislation added crimes motivated by victims' race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability to the federal hate crime law. Shepard, an openly gay college student, was abducted, fatally beaten and tied to a fence in Wyoming in October 1998...
Video,
https://abcnews.go.com/US/white-supremacist-set-executed-killing-black-man-dragging/story?id=62549116

[catbyte]

1. Oh, God, I remember that.

It still makes me sick thinking about it. I'm not a fan of the death penalty, but in that case, I didn't shed any tears when they did away with that worthless excuse for a human being.

[appalachiablue]

3. Horror, I remember hearing about it.

[tulipsandroses]

2. Good riddance. The vengeance in me says he should have suffered the same fate

The earth is a better place without his existence

I commend his family for their work on racial healing.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Unbearable torture and hatred delivered to a helpless human being. Just as horrifying this moment.

Seems impossible anyone could be that despicable.

I felt George W. Bush owed the world a far more respectful position toward James Byrd's savage betrayal by racists, and his lonely, helpless suffering.

We were only left to feel such sickness, horror, and grief, knowing he didn't have a chance to escape, and his life was simply stolen from him by monsters.

Bush owned it to the world to righteously condemn this hate crome, and to offer consolation to his loved ones. He totally failed.

[pfitz59]

5. Jasper is in a solid red region of Texas

Full of horrific, despicable Neanderthals.

[electric_blue68]

6. One of the most hedious crimes...

I'd ever heard of. Tries my stance in being anti death penalty. Absolutely heinous.

[dalton99a]

7. 2020: Truck in New Braunfels Trump Train drags Black Lives Matter flag

https://www.ktsa.com/truck-in-new-braunfels-trump-train-drags-black-lives-matter-flag/
https://mycanyonlake.com/nb-trump-parade-truck-drags-black-lives-matter-flag-city-says-free-speech-isnt-the-issue/

[appalachiablue]

8. The message couldn't be clearer, this country has deep problems

to address. The 1998 murder in is one of the most horrible crimes I ever heard of in my lifetime. One Jasper official in a PBS program I saw said about the 3 involved, 'they were just out looking for girls' to try to diminish the heinous crime if that's even true.