Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 50 of 61

Thread: James Byrd, Jr. Jasper, Texas

  1. #1
    RoRo Guest

    James Byrd, Jr. Jasper, Texas

    This was so tragic and horrific!! I remember feeling ashamed for having people like the killers in our country

    He was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas by three white men who were members of the ??Confederate Knights-Ku Klux Klan?. James Byrd was walking on the road on Huff Creek Road when the 3 white men pick him up and chained him on the back of the pickup truck. He was then dragged 3 miles until his body was mutilated and left near the gate of Jasper black cemeteries. His murder was reported all over the United States and other countries. Media coverage at the murder trial of the three men, Russell Brewer, John William King, and Shawn Berry, was extensive. All three were convicted of capital murder, with Berry receiving life in prison, and Brewer and King receiving the death penalty.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    758
    Yep, totally remember that. Very sad and very scary. That town had some sort of sign in it that basically said that black people (believe me, it wasn't worded that way) shouldn't be out after dark. When my folks were still together, they were big road trippers and they drove through that town...FAST.

    As an aside, my mom works at the prison that one of those douche bags is in. He's in protective custody for obvious reasons. My mom spoke to his wife for quite a while once. Supposedly, he was the one that was driving and wasn't or isn't a racist but felt compelled to go along with it. He's been appealing his conviction for the longest time but I highly doubt he'll get out. He's also like 5 feet tall. lol

  3. #3
    djdeath-hag Guest
    Bigotry & hatred are never something to be tolerated. This story affected me no less than Matthew Shepherd's murder. To kill b/c you don't like something about another person is especially heinous.

  4. #4
    Kathyf Guest
    Just ridiculous

  5. #5
    onehunglow Guest
    Yeah, I make wise cracks about Sinatra but this make me ill and ashamed to be a part of "Man Kind". Demons do walk among us.

  6. #6
    hlh004 Guest
    we just watched a movie about that in class. very disturbing

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    NoHo Arts District-L.A.
    Posts
    5,648
    What makes it even worse than it already is, is the fact that this happened in OUR lifetime; In the 90's..not some faraway place (NO OFFENSE meant to our older hags, I'm just putting it in a frame of referance) like the 1950's! WE were alive!!! (sigh)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!

  8. #8
    cachluv Guest
    A deejay called "Greaseman" in the DC area got fired for making the wise-crack "No wonder we drag 'em behind trucks".

    Just like when Howard Stern got fired for calling Reagan Natl Airport on the air the day after a plane crashed into an overpass due to ice there, asking for a one-way trip to the 14th St. Bridge. Too far. Not funny.

  9. #9
    Jazbabee Guest
    Greaseman crossed the line many, many times........I can never understand how one human being can have the capability to do something so VILE to another living, breathing being -I just can't fathom it !!

  10. #10
    Armcast Guest
    I grew up in a town close to Jasper, TX, though I had moved away before the incident happened. Those killers are now guests of the State of Texas. May they linger there until they drag their lifeless carcasses out.

    BTW: An Howard Stern parodied the death of Selena (the Tejano singer) on his show. After he did that, a lot of people in the Hispanic community in South Texas (where she was immensely popular) started a boycott of Stern's advertisers. The boycott eventually fizzled out.

  11. 02-14-2009, 05:45 AM


  12. #11
    cachluv Guest

    Remember this guy??





    Birth name
    Douglas TrachtBornAugust 1, 1950 (1950-08-01) (age 58)


    Doug "The Greaseman" Tracht (born August 1, 1950) is a radio, television and movie personality. Tracht is best known for his morning show as "The Greaseman" on WWDC-FM in Washington, DC.

    In 1985, while with WWDC in Washington, Tracht created an uproar by making an on-air crack about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, celebrating the life and accomplishments of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., saying, "Why don't we plug four more and get the whole week off?" followed by, "Come on, now, you know I don't mean nothing!"

    In February 1999, Radio's "Greaseman," shock jock Doug Tracht, was fired for another on-air, race-related remark he made during his morning drive-time show on classic rock station WARW (94.7 FM).
    Tracht noted that the Grammy Awards ceremony was scheduled for that evening and played a portion of a song by Lauryn Hill, the young black hip-hop artist nominated for 10 Grammys. Then he commented: "No wonder people drag them behind trucks." The reference was to the brutal torture and death in Texas of James Byrd Jr., decapitated while being dragged behind a pickup. After the comment, he immediately stated that he "didn't mean nothing." But it didn't help ease the backlash. This incident proved catastrophic to his radio career, igniting a firestorm of protest from listeners of all races, including Donnie Simpson, who savaged Tracht on his morning show on sister station WPGC-FM. Not only was Tracht quickly fired from WARW, but also he lost his position as a VOlunteer Deputy Sheriff in Falls Church, VA.


    ****************************************

    I never liked this guy, he was annoying to me even before he started the racism shit. What an asshole. I'm glad he lost everything, if that's what it took to shut him the fuck up.

  13. #12
    Long Gone Day Guest
    When..I..first..heard..about..what..was..done
    to..James..Byrd..Jr....I..threw..up.
    I..have..no..comprehension..how..someone
    can..do..something..like..this..and..I
    am..glad..that..at..least..two..received
    the..death..penalty..and..the..other..
    perpetrator,...life..in..prison.
    RIP..Mr..Byrd..

  14. #13
    Dane Guest
    Are Brewer and King dead yet? You know, I too remember feeling sicker than I ever had when I initially heard aout this crime. It's near impossible for me to hear about things like this and not want to go all sadistic/hate crime myself on the perpetrators.

    And maybe on that asswipe DJ too.

  15. #14
    ozzysmom Guest
    I remember this. I was so outraged, how could somebody do that to another human being.

  16. #15
    carebearsluv Guest
    I remember when this happened. I was in junior high. I had always heard and read about hate crimes, but hearing about it first hand was horrible.

  17. #16
    DexterKitty Guest
    Thanks for bringing this up Thinkering. I didn't know if this wonderful man had a thread on here or not. This was an absolutely heart wrenching crime. The first time I read about it I sat and cried. The more I read about the case the madder I got. Nobody has the right to kill somebody that is different from them. I can't remember where I read it but, there is a very detailed account of this crime, the confessions, and Mr. Byrds family. He had a son and daughter that I know of, and their reaction to their father's death was heart wrenching to read. Such a sad, sickening, and senseless crime.

  18. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Mossy and wet
    Posts
    1,314
    Quote Originally Posted by Kathyf View Post
    Just ridiculous
    In British Columbia, Canada, a 16-year-old dragged a gas station attendant to death and laughed about it afterwards. He was sentenced to seven or eight years in prison for the crime, but a judge later ruled the sentence excessive, because he had some indigenous ancestry, and reduced it to five years.

  19. #18
    DexterKitty Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Maxster View Post
    In British Columbia, Canada, a 16-year-old dragged a gas station attendant to death and laughed about it afterwards. He was sentenced to seven or eight years in prison for the crime, but a judge later ruled the sentence excessive, because he had some indigenous ancestry, and reduced it to five years.
    People are just sick!!! It sounds like that judge needs his head examined.

  20. #19
    Frank 'N' Howie Guest
    AH yes...Good old Grease...He screwed the pooch on that one...He sure needed to keep his trap shut when it comes to stuff like that...Last I heard he is workin AM radio...OH the humanity...

  21. #20
    DexterKitty Guest
    AM radio!!! Yikes!!! :O

  22. 02-14-2009, 02:43 PM

  23. #21
    DexterKitty Guest
    It's been a long time but, I think I saw one that had a piece of his jaw laying in the road, with a paint circle around it. That was awful. That poor, poor, man.

  24. #22
    lisalouver Guest
    Gosh has it been that long already? It seems like yesterday.

  25. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    6,008
    Those guys truly were evil. No other way to describe them.

  26. #24
    Meli Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by MagneticElectric View Post
    Yep, totally remember that. Very sad and very scary. That town had some sort of sign in it that basically said that black people (believe me, it wasn't worded that way) shouldn't be out after dark. When my folks were still together, they were big road trippers and they drove through that town...FAST.

    As an aside, my mom works at the prison that one of those douche bags is in. He's in protective custody for obvious reasons. My mom spoke to his wife for quite a while once. Supposedly, he was the one that was driving and wasn't or isn't a racist but felt compelled to go along with it. He's been appealing his conviction for the longest time but I highly doubt he'll get out. He's also like 5 feet tall. lol
    When I was stationed at Ft Polk, LA we were going to TX for something (think going to Houston) and drove through Jasper, and had to stop to get gas. Im white as is my husband, but we had our good friends with us (they are mexican, and asian) OMG that town scared the shit out of me! There is just a tension in the air there, that lets outsiders know they are NOT welcome. This was in 2000-2001 time frame.

  27. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    6,008
    Quote Originally Posted by Melicious625 View Post
    When I was stationed at Ft Polk, LA we were going to TX for something (think going to Houston) and drove through Jasper, and had to stop to get gas. Im white as is my husband, but we had our good friends with us (they are mexican, and asian) OMG that town scared the shit out of me! There is just a tension in the air there, that lets outsiders know they are NOT welcome. This was in 2000-2001 time frame.
    Perhaps they keep a better eye out is all.

  28. #26
    Meli Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by AmazonWoman View Post
    Perhaps they keep a better eye out is all.

    No that was NOT it. The animosity was not aimed at my husband and I but at our friends. I guess it's hard to explain unless you ever expierence something like this firsthand.

  29. #27
    lisalouver Guest
    According to the Texas Dept of Criminal Justice inmate records, Berry is still incarcerated with a projected release date of 2038 - he is 34 so that will make him about 63 at that point, I think.

    There are no records for Brewer which is strange, he might be in some sort of undisclosed location, unless they executed him already? I didn't think they did though.

    King is still in Texas also, on death row.

  30. #28
    pvezz Guest
    I remember crying when I heard about this. Just so evil and inhumane; I couldn't and still can't comprehend this level of hatred. I felt the same way when I heard about Matthew Shepherd.

  31. #29
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    6,008
    Quote Originally Posted by lisalouver View Post
    According to the Texas Dept of Criminal Justice inmate records, Berry is still incarcerated with a projected release date of 2038 - he is 34 so that will make him about 63 at that point, I think.

    There are no records for Brewer which is strange, he might be in some sort of undisclosed location, unless they executed him already? I didn't think they did though.

    King is still in Texas also, on death row.
    Brewer is still very much on death row in Texas:
    http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/brewerlawrence.htm

  32. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    6,008
    Quote Originally Posted by Melicious625 View Post
    No that was NOT it. The animosity was not aimed at my husband and I but at our friends. I guess it's hard to explain unless you ever expierence something like this firsthand.
    Well, like you said - maybe you had to be there!! God bless.

  33. #31
    carebearsluv Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Melicious625 View Post
    No that was NOT it. The animosity was not aimed at my husband and I but at our friends. I guess it's hard to explain unless you ever expierence something like this firsthand.
    I agree. I'm black, and as I am traveling through the state, there are places that just have a cloud of hate in the air, kwim? There are some towns down here in the South where older white guys still call black men "Boy".

  34. #32
    lisalouver Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by AmazonWoman View Post
    Brewer is still very much on death row in Texas:
    http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/brewerlawrence.htm
    Ah ha!

    I was using Russell as his FIRST name, not Lawrence!

  35. #33
    pvezz Guest
    My husband grew up in a small town south of Pittsburgh. He said there was a bar there that would CLOSE if a black person would come in. This was in the 1990s! Can you believe that???

  36. #34
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    SW FW, TX
    Posts
    1,878

    Lawrence Brewer execution-James Byrd dragging

    http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/21/justic...ntent=My+Yahoo

    I'm sure everyone has heard the story.

    It's about time.

    Good riddance to bad rubbish.

  37. #35
    havoc Guest
    13 years too late if you ask me.

    POS should have been put down years ago. All three of them.

    .

  38. #36
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    SW FW, TX
    Posts
    1,878
    Absolutely - just taken out back and shot right then and there.

  39. #37
    Oogie Boogie Guest
    Lethal injection is too humane for this scumbag. Thinking of what poor Mr. Byrd went through, his killers should suffer at least as much.

  40. #38
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    River Park, Port St. Lucie, Florida
    Posts
    753
    Hang the three and leave 'em to rot in their nooses.

  41. #39
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    San Diego CA
    Posts
    7,438
    I say do to them what they did to their victim, I think people should die by the way they kill their victims.

  42. #40
    Mammy Guest
    This was one of the most brutal and evil murders that I have ever heard of. Mr. Byrd was killed in a horrible manner just because of his skin color. I am glad that Lawrence Brewer is getting the punishment that he earned for himself, although he should have been executed years sooner. Does anyone know why Brewer and King received the death penalty and not Shawn Berry who was also an active participant?

  43. #41
    lisalouver Guest

  44. #42
    Frazzzld Kat Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by pksgigi View Post
    I say do to them what they did to their victim, I think people should die by the way they kill their victims.
    I agree. If the system worked that way we would have a lot less murders happening.

  45. #43
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    6,486
    He had a pretty big "buffet" for his last meal too! Dang!

  46. #44
    Mammy Guest
    If he ate even half of that food that he ordered, he probably had heartburn and indigestion so bad that he was ready for the needle.

  47. #45
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    toronto, canada ( Etobicoke)
    Posts
    5,013
    Al Sharpton has been quiet about this execution.

  48. #46
    radiojane Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Mammy View Post
    If he ate even half of that food that he ordered, he probably had heartburn and indigestion so bad that he was ready for the needle.
    Apparently he didn't touch it.

  49. #47
    Billy Weathersby Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by radiojane View Post
    Apparently he didn't touch it.
    Just saw on cnn that since Brewer didn't touch his huge meal, the state of Texas no longer gives condemned prisoners a last meal choice...They eat what the other prisoners eat..

  50. #48
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    toronto, canada ( Etobicoke)
    Posts
    5,013
    John William King is also on death row for this crime - nicknamed "Possum"

    http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/kingjohn.htm

    Byrd has made it to findagrave

    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7105192

    Last edited by cash; 09-22-2011 at 05:59 PM.

  51. #49
    lisalouver Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Weathersby View Post
    Just saw on cnn that since Brewer didn't touch his huge meal, the state of Texas no longer gives condemned prisoners a last meal choice...They eat what the other prisoners eat..
    Or they dont eat at all. Which is what many do.

  52. #50
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,495
    I recall the photos they were able to publish and show at the time (not much on the Internet back then.) The police drew chalk circles on the road around every place Mr. Byrd's body... fell apart.

    Brewer had an easier death by far.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •