Emmett Till Memorial Sign Found Damaged With Bullet Holes

A memorial marking the spot where then 14 year old Emmett Till‘s body was found floating along Mississippi’s Tallahatchie River, has been vandalized with a barrage of bullet holes.

In a report from the Atlanta Black Star the damaged memorial was recently visited by a tourist by the name of Kevin Wilson Jr. Wilson had posted a photo of the plaque to his Facebook page, showing the sign blasted with bullet holes.

“I’m at the exact site where Emmett Till’s body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River 61 years ago. The site marker is filled with bullet holes. Clear evidence that we’ve still got a long way to go,” Wilson captioned the post with.

Along with this sign there were several other ones made that have been repeatedly vandalized, shot or stolen since they were installed nearly 10 years ago.

“We’re not going to tolerate them tearing down anything that’s marking Emmett Till’s murder,” Board of Supervisors President Jerome G. Little told Slate in another report about the signs. “I want to send a message: Every time they take it down, we’re going to put it back up.”

However, a sign marking the home of J.W. Milam (one of the men that murdered Till) has suffered little to no damage in comparison to Till’s memorial. Milam’s plaque is adorned by flowers, which community members planted around the sign following his death due to spine cancer in 1980.

On August 28, 1955, was when the incident between Till, Milam and accomplice Roy Bryant occurred. Till was abducted, brutally beaten and shot execution style by Milam and Bryant after the teen reportedly whistled at Bryant’s wife, a white woman. The duo was acquitted for Till’s murder soon after, offering little to no remorse for the killing. Milam confessed to the murder just two years later.

View the image of Till’s sign below.