Tree planted at U.S. Capitol to honor Emmett Till
JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi senators and other officials have planted a tree at the U.S. Capitol to honor Emmett Till.
The Chicago teen was kidnapped and killed in Mississippi in 1955, allegedly for whistling at a white woman. His mother chose to have an open casket at his funeral, and the civil-rights movement was galvanized after Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body. An all-white jury acquitted two white men of murder.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine sponsored Monday's planting of a sycamore tree.
Fellow Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi took part in the ceremony, as did Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.
Cochran says the tree is a reminder of Till's role in "heightening America's awareness of the injustice of racial discrimination."