Congressman Ask Justice Dept. to Pick up the Pace with Emmitt Till Investigation

Jim Talent, R-Mo., joined with three Democrats on Friday in urging the Justice Department to speed up its investigation into the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago youth who was beaten and shot in Mississippi in 1955 after allegedly whistling at a white woman. Till was black.  The Justice Department reopened the case in May, but Talent and other lawmakers said they were concerned that officials weren't moving quickly enough. They noted that many of the potential witnesses - and possible defendants - were old.  Till's murder was among the early sparks that helped ignite the civil rights movement. Photographs of his beaten body sparked outrage across the country.  Two white men were charged with the murder in 1955, but an all-white jury acquitted them. A documentary film, "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," renewed interest in the case and put pressure on federal officials to reopen it. [more]