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President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, which makes lynching a federal hate crime for the first time in U.S. history.
Now the crime will "be prosecuted as lynching when death or serious bodily injury results from a conspiracy to commit a hate crime," If convicted one could face upwards of 30 years in prison for the crime.
"This afternoon, I'm signing the long-overdue Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law – making lynching a federal hate crime," POTUS tweeted "Living up to our founding principles as a nation means coming to terms with the sins of our past. Today, we take another step toward that more perfect union."
Till's cousin, Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. attended the signing and shared that his family "was devastated that no one was held responsible for the abduction, torture, and murder of Emmett. We are heartened by this new law. Which shows that Emmett still speaks in powerful ways to make sure that no one can get away with a racist crime like this ever again."