Joe Biden signs Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law

Following decades of attempts to pass the law to make lynching a hate crime, the US Congress has passed the bill. US President Joe Biden officially signed the bill into law today, marking another historic legislative feat.

Biden signed into law that would make lynching a federal hate crime after a century of failed attempts to outlaw the act.

The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is named after a 14-year-old Black teenager named Emmett Till, whose murder empowered the country’s Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. The Senate passed the bill earlier this month, which Biden signed during an event at the White House Rose Garden.

“Lynching was pure terror, to enforce the lie that not everyone, not everyone belongs in America, not everyone was created equal,” said Biden following the signing of the bill.

The US leader was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, top officials of the Justice Department, several members of Congress, a descendant of journalist Ida B. Wells, who reported on the lynchings, and Till’s cousin Rev. Wheeler Parker.

Those convicted of the law will face a 30-year prison sentence.

Harris said that with the signing of the bill into law, Biden was addressing the “unfinished business” and “horror” in the country’s history. Harris co-sponsored the bill during her time as a Senator from California.

“Lynching is not a relic of the past. Racial acts of terror still occur in our nation. And when they do, we must all have the courage to name them and hold the perpetrators to account,” said Harris.

In other related news, Biden stood by his comments Monday when he said during his speech in Warsaw that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin cannot stay in power, especially after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Despite standing by his comments, Biden stressed that his comments did not mean a change in policy.

The Biden administration sought to clarify the US leader’s comments, as they expressed concerns that Putin would speculate that Washington’s goal was to change the regime in Russia. Biden explained that he expressed “moral outrage” regarding Putin’s actions, noting his recent visit to Warsaw, where he met and spoke with Ukrainian refugees.