Roy Bryant

Roy Bryant was an American murderer who, along with his half-brother J.W. Milam, kidnapped and killed Emmett Till, an African American teenager, in Mississippi in August 1955. Till's alleged offense was whistling at Bryant's wife, Carolyn Bryant, who was a white cashier.12

Despite overwhelming evidence and eyewitness testimony, an all-white jury acquitted Bryant and Milam of all charges. Protected by double jeopardy laws, the two men later confessed to the murder in a paid interview. The brutal nature of Till's murder and the subsequent acquittal of his killers became a pivotal moment that galvanized the American civil rights movement. In later years, investigations were reopened, but no further criminal charges were filed.123