It was recently reported that Carolyn Bryant admitted that she lied when she accused 14-year-old Emmett Till of physically and verbally assaulting her in Mississippi roughly 60 years ago. With this newfound information, some of Till’s relatives are hoping a new investigation could lead to closure. 

“We know that she has admitted that she lied, and we know that is part of the reason Emmett is no longer with us,” said his cousin Deborah Watts, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. “If there is any chance to reopen the case, I hope they will take this opportunity to do it now.”

Watts and Wheeler Parker, who was with Till in the store the day he interacted with Bryant, are hoping to resolve any lingering questions about what led to Tills’ brutal attack and death.

No one was surprised about Bryant’s confession. It was long rumored that Till did absolutely nothing wrong and was unfortunately another Black life wiped out in the American South because of a series of unspoken rules regarding race.

However, it appears that the confirmation of what we all suspected is all that was needed to spark old and new curiosities about the event that many feel kicked off the Civil Rights Movement.