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National News | Today in History: June 7, James Byrd Jr. killed…
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Today in History: June 7, James Byrd Jr. killed in hate crime

Also on this date, Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday.

FILE – In this Sept. 21, 2011, file photo, Ricky Jason wears a photograph of James Byrd Jr. outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit before the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer in Huntsville, Texas. An East Texas town’s history as the place where a black man, Byrd, was dragged to death by three white men nearly 21 years ago will again come to the forefront this week as the ringleader responsible for the brutal killing, John William King, is scheduled to be executed. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
FILE – In this Sept. 21, 2011, file photo, Ricky Jason wears a photograph of James Byrd Jr. outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit before the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer in Huntsville, Texas. An East Texas town’s history as the place where a black man, Byrd, was dragged to death by three white men nearly 21 years ago will again come to the forefront this week as the ringleader responsible for the brutal killing, John William King, is scheduled to be executed. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
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In a crime that shocked the nation and led to stronger state and federal hate crime laws, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old Black man, was hooked by a chain to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas.

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