President Joe Biden has signed legislation to finally define lynching as a federal hate crime.
“Hundreds, hundreds of similar bills have failed to pass,” Biden said Tuesday during a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. “Over the years, several federal hate crime laws were enacted, including one I signed last year to combat COVID-19 hate crimes, but no federal law, no federal law expressly prohibited lynching. None. Until today.”
The ceremony was the culmination of more than 200 attempts since the start of the 20th century to enact federal anti-lynching legislation, according to lead House sponsor Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill.
