James Byrd Jr.

People

James Byrd Jr. (subject)

Outcome

Lynching

On June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old Black man, was murdered in Jasper, Texas, in one of the most brutal hate crimes in modern American history. While walking home from a party around 1:00 AM, Byrd accepted a ride from three white men: Shawn Allen Berry, John William King, and Lawrence Russell Brewer. Instead of taking him home, the men drove to a secluded area where they beat Byrd severely and spray-painted his face black. They then chained him by the ankles to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him for three miles along an asphalt road. Byrd remained conscious for much of the ordeal until his body hit a culvert, severing his right arm and head. His torso was dumped in front of a Black cemetery, and pieces of the rope used in the killing were sold as souvenirs. Two of the killers, King and Brewer, were avowed white supremacists who had joined racist prison gangs while incarcerated. King was covered in racist tattoos including Ku Klux Klan symbols, a swastika, and a depiction of a lynching. The murder marked the first time in Texas history that a white person received a death sentence for killing a Black person. Brewer was executed on September 21, 2011, and King was executed on April 24, 2019. Berry received a life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 2038. Byrd's murder led directly to significant hate crime legislation. In 2001, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act into state law. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded federal hate crime law to cover crimes motivated by sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. Byrd's family established the James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing, conducting diversity workshops and offering scholarships.