◆ SpookStack

LAW ENFURCEMENT SENSILIVE -, ; alone, followed shortly thereafter by his cousin, [ who entered the store and came out a bs c with Till. Shortly after Till and{ exited the store| exited as well. Upon C___fexit, Till whistled. | e Carolyn Bryant-Donham: During the trial of J .W. Milam and Roy Bryant for the murder of Emmett Till, Bryant-Donham testified on behalf of the defense, out of the presence of the jury. Bryant-Donham stated that on the evening of August 24, 1955 she was tending the store alone. Her sister-in-law, J uanita Milam, was in the living quarters at the rear of the store, taking care of the Milam and Bryant children. At ~ about 8:00 p.m., a "ni gger man came in the store and he stopped there at the candy case." Bryant-Donham waited on the customer, but did not recall at the time of her testimony what he had purchased. Bryant-Donham placed the item on the candy case __ and heid her ri ght hand out for the money. Instead of taking the money from her hand, the customer “caught my hand”, holding her hand by grasping all the fingers in the palm of his hand with a strong grip. When he grabbed her hand he asked "How about adate, baby?" Bryant-Donham "jerked" her hand loose and tumed to go to the back of the store. The customer followed her down the counter to the cash register, “caught” her by the waist with his hands and said, “What's the matter, baby? Can't you take it?” Bryant-Donham, with difficulty, freed herself from his grasp. He then stated, "You needn't be afraid of me” and used language Bryant-Dortham did not use, including “one unprintable word”, and "with white women before." Bryant-Donham stated this incident left her “just scared to death.” About that time "this other nigger came in the store and got him by the arm”, telling the customer "come on and let's go". The customer left the store unwillingly, stating as he went out “Good-by". Upon the - 40 ; LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE ; Tins document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.