‘It’s About Time’: House Approves Historic Bill Making Lynching A Federal Crime

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., speaks during a news conference about the Emmett Till Antilynching Act on Wednesday on Capitol Hill. He stands beside a photo of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in the 1950s.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

With supporters calling it more than 100 years in the making, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Wednesday that makes lynching a federal hate crime for the first time in U.S. history.

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act was approved in a vote of 410-4. Only three Republicans and one independent representative voted against it.

Advocates say there have been more than 200 attempts to pass the legislation in the past, and the latest effort has been in the works for nearly two years.