The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a review and evaluation of the 1921 race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said.
“When we have finished our federal review, we will issue a report analyzing the massacre in light of both modern and then-existing civil rights law,” said Clarke, who oversees the Justice Department’s civil rights enforcement efforts.
The review will be conducted under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which allows the Department of Justice to investigate death-resulting civil rights crimes that occurred on or before Dec. 31, 1979.
The massacre started after a Black man was accused of assaulting a white woman.
“Although a commission, historians, lawyers and others have conducted prior examinations of the Tulsa Massacre, we, the Justice Department, never have.”Clarke said the department is examining available documents, witness accounts, scholarly and historical research and other information related to the massacre.
Persons:
Kristen Clarke, Clarke, ”, Emmett, Viola Fletcher, Lessie Benningfield Randle, Hugh Van Ellis, ” Clarke, Damario Solomon Simmons
Organizations:
U.S . Department of Justice, Justice, Department of Justice, Universal, Getty, Tulsa, Justice Department, NBC News
Locations:
Tulsa , Oklahoma, Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Okla