The murder of Emmett Till is considered to be a landmark in the Civil Rights Movement that sparked a powerful public reaction due to the severity of the crime and the publicity it received. Now, it appears that this is a part of history some people would like to do without.

A memorial marking the place where Till’s body was found along the Mississippi River in 1955 has been riddled with bullet holes, some of which have been there for years. 

The New York Daily News reports that the sign was found by filmmaker Kevin Wilson, Jr., who posted a photo to his Facebook page.

“I’m at the exact site where Emmett Till’s body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River 61 years ago. The site marker is filled with bullet holes,” read the caption. “Clear evidence that we’ve still got a long way to go.”

A tweet by writer Christopher Hooks from 2013 showed that many of the bullet holes have been on the sign as far back as 2013, with no repairs having been made.

Till, who was 14 at the time of his death, was visiting his family in Money, Mississippi from Chicago. When his body was found, he had been severely tortured and the two men accused of committing the act, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, were acquitted by an all-white jury. They later confessed to kidnapping and torturing the teen because he allegedly whistled at Bryant’s wife.

 

Image via Facebook