Byrd murder case

The Event The dragging death of James Byrd, Jr., an African American man, by three white men

Date June 7, 1998

Place Jasper, Texas

The brutality of Byrd’s murder triggered outrage across the country, prompted calls for tolerance, and energized efforts to advance hate crime legislation.

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 1998, forty-nine-year-old James Byrd, Jr., was walking home after attending several parties. Byrd, a figure familiar to most people who lived in the small town of Jasper, often walked about town because he did not own a car. As the inebriated Byrd meandered down Martin Luther King Boulevard, he was offered a ride by three white men: Shawn Allen Berry (age twenty-three), John William King (age twenty-four), and Lawrence Russell Brewer (age thirty-one). The three ex-convicts had been driving around in Berry’s pickup truck, drinking and socializing. Unfortunately for Byrd, King and Brewer were white supremacists.

King was incensed that Berry offered a ride to an African American. Berry later claimed that, as they drove, King and Brewer schemed to harm Byrd. After stopping at a secluded location, Byrd was beaten, stripped, chained by his ankles to the back of the truck, and dragged approximately three miles down Huff Creek Road. He sustained horrific injuries, the most shocking of which occurred when his head, shoulder, and arm were shorn off by the edge of a concrete culvert. The remainder of Byrd’s body was dumped in the African American section of the segregated Huff Creek Cemetery.

Byrd’s body was found later that morning by local residents. As police investigated the death, they soon realized that the incident was not a standard “hit and run,” as first thought. Police were soon led to Berry by evidence at the crime scene and an eyewitness who saw Byrd riding in the bed of a gray truck. Under questioning, Berry identified his companions and claimed that they were responsible for Byrd’s murder. All three were charged with kidnapping and murder. In 1999, King and Brewer were found guilty and sentenced to death. Berry received a life sentence.

Impact

The enormous media coverage generated by James Byrd’s dragging death reminded Americans that racism was alive and well at the end of the twentieth century. Though a grisly hate crime had occurred in the small town, the guilty verdicts helped promote racial healing in Jasper, as did a park created in Byrd’s memory. Additionally, the fence that segregated Huff Creek Cemetery was dismantled.

Byrd’s dragging death also triggered national outrage and condemnation. African American leaders denounced the heinous crime. Lawmakers called for additional legislation to deal with hate crimes. Additionally, Byrd’s murder focused attention on the pervasiveness of racial prison gangs. While in prison, both King and Brewer joined white supremacist gangs, allegedly to protect themselves from other prisoners. They emerged from prison as fervent racists.

Subsequent Events

Byrd’s murder compelled the 2001 passage of Texas’s James Byrd Hate Crimes Act. His family also established the James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing. Two films were produced about the event: Two Towns of Jasper (2002) and Jasper, Texas (2003).

Bibliography

King, Joyce. Hate Crime: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas. New York: Pantheon Books, 2002.

Temple-Raston, Dina. A Death in Texas: A Story of Race, Murder, and a Small Town’s Struggle for Redemption. New York: Henry Holt, 2002.