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Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy displays the chain used by three white men, two of whom were known Neo-Nazis, to drag James Byrd Jr., a black man, to his demise. It remains one of the most infamous hate crimes in modern American history, Texas, 1999. On June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr. accepted a ride home from three white men in Jasper, Texas — a decision that led to one of the most horrific hate crimes in U.S. history. The men beat Byrd, chained him by the ankles to their truck, and dragged him for nearly three miles along a rural road. His body was torn apart. The brutality of the murder shocked the nation and reignited a conversation about racism in America’s modern era. Prosecutor Pat Hardy, pictured holding the chain, later described it as a symbol of pure evil. The killers, John King, Lawrence Brewer, and Shawn Berry, were quickly convicted. Two received the death penalty, while Berry was sentenced to life in prison. Byrd’s murder directly led to the passage of the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act in 2001 and influenced federal hate crime legislation signed by President Obama in 2009. John King, one of Byrd’s killers, was executed by lethal injection in 2019, more than 20 years after the murder. © Reddit #archaeohistories