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Emmett Till sign damaged by bullet holes

The sign, which has been vandalized several times in the past, had more than 40 bullet holes in it when a picture taken last week went viral online.

By Stephen Feller
A sign marking the spot where 14-year-old Emmett Till's body was found in the Tallahatchie River in 1955 was found riddled with bullet holes last week. A picture posted on Facebook, above, went viral and help the Emmett Till Interpretive Center raise more than enough money to replace the sign. Photo by Kevin Wilson Jr.
A sign marking the spot where 14-year-old Emmett Till's body was found in the Tallahatchie River in 1955 was found riddled with bullet holes last week. A picture posted on Facebook, above, went viral and help the Emmett Till Interpretive Center raise more than enough money to replace the sign. Photo by Kevin Wilson Jr.

TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY, Miss., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The historical sign where Emmett Till's body was found in Mississippi in 1955 was found riddled with bullet holes, the latest act of vandalism committed against the sign, though funds have already been raised through an online effort to replace the defaced marker.

A fundraiser to replace the pockmarked, disrespected sign hit its $15,000 goal Sunday afternoon, so the sign can be replaced -- again -- to mark the place Emmett Till's body was found in the Tallahatchie River.

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The 14-year-old Till was kidnapped and murdered in 1955 by two white men for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Investigators say the men threw his body into the river, though they were later found not guilty by an all-white jury.

The sign has been vandalized several times since at least 2006, and police said many of the bullet holes in the sign were not new.

"That marker was just evidence that there are people who are still living in those areas who still hold those ideologies dear to their heart," Kevin Wilson Jr., who found the bullet-hole-covered sign and posted a picture of it on Facebook, told WJTV-TV. "Ideology that we're trying to get away from."

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The Emmett Till Interpretive Center raised $18,400 by late Sunday night, which they said will allow them to replace the sign, as well as enhance an app that allows people to visit the 51 sites in the area connected to the Till case.

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