Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
James Byrd, Jr.
James Byrd, Jr. was an African-American murdered in a 1998 hate crime by Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russel Brewer, and John William King, in Jasper, Texas.
Byrd was tied to a pickup truck with a chain and dragged about three miles. An autopsy indicated that Byrd was alive for much of the dragging; dying after his right arm and head were severed as his body impacted with a culvert. His death has been referred to by Jesse Jackson and the Martin Luther King Center.
His murder focused national attention on the prevalence of prison gangs, especially on white supremacist gangs. The three defendants, who were later tried and convicted for the murder, had allegedly joined white supremacist prison gangs based in Texas.
His family created the James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing after his death.
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