On March 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the "Emmett Till Antilynching Act" into law. The act, which is named after 14-year-old Emmett Till who was lynched and murdered by white men in Mississippi in 1955, makes lynching a federal hate crime.[1] The act amends Section 249(a) of title 18 by adding lynching as being punishable under federal law.[2] Now, "perpetrators can receive up to 30 years in prison when a conspiracy to commit a hate crime results in death or serious bodily injury."[3]
In response to President Biden signing the act into law, extremists online are threatening politicians with lynching. Some users call for politicians to be killed by woodchipper, guillotine, firing squad, dismembering, and burning at the stake. In threatening politicians, some extremists specifically threaten President Biden and former President Barack Obama.
The following is a selection of reactions to the anti-lynching law.
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Extremists React To Bill And Threaten U.S. Politicians
On a social media platform, a user posted a meme about the new law. In response, a user shared an image of multiple politicians standing on a gallows with the text: "HANG 'EM HIGH." Another user suggested beheading politicians while a third user posited burning them at the stake.
A social media user posted an image showing an altered photo of former President Barak Obama at the 2006 University of Massachusetts graduation ceremony. In place of a graduation robe hood, Obama has a noose around his neck. In speaking about the anti-lynching law, users commented alternatives to killing politicians including by firing squad and woodchippers.
In responding to the law, a social media user called posted saying that it should be "legal to lynch democrats."
[1] Cnn.com/2022/03/29/politics/biden-emmett-till-antilynching-act/index.html, March 29, 2022.
[2] Congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/55/text, accessed April 5, 2022.
[3] Npr.org/2022/03/29/1086720579/lynching-is-now-a-federal-hate-crime-after-a-century-of-blocked-efforts, March 29, 2022.
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