Georgia Legislature Proposes Invoice to Lynch Chilly Case Activity Drive – WSB-TV Channel 2

ATLANTA — With federal anti-lynching legislation nearing enactment, Georgia Democrats are pushing for legislation to resolve Georgia cold lynching cases.

Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach spoke to lawmakers in the state capital.

That same week, the US Congress passed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act and it is set to become law – lynching will become a federal hate crime – Georgia’s Legislative Black Caucus, the Urban League of Atlanta, the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP want State leaders HB-155 pass to look at Georgia’s cold-lynching cases.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Rep. Carl Gilliard, the bill’s sponsor, said he would have the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and GBI form a cold-case entity.

“You can have a commission that actually investigates the people who took lives,” he said.

Rep. Mike Wilensky, the only Jewish member of the Georgia House or Senate and the second signatory to the bill, brought up the lynching of Leo Frank at Marietta and how the stone was vandalized at the site and overturned just two weeks ago.

“This is when this legislation should be passed to bring back and research and investigate all these cold cases,” he said.

TREND STORIES:

Wilensky and other leaders said their legislation is not about black or white or monuments and markers, but about finding the truth.

“It’s not just what happened back then. It’s generation to generation and it’s really important to go back and look and allow the family to know what happened, who did this damage and that can bring closure,” Wilensky said.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

HB-155 won’t pass that session, but they hope to start the discussion now, hold study sessions, and then take it to a vote in the state capital next year.

“It means holding people accountable and telling their story. Because of that, hopefully Georgia can move closer together to identify these cases and put them back on the front burner after being put on the back burner for so many years,” Gilliard said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

©2022 Cox Media Group