U.S. House Passes Emmett Till Antilynching Act

WASHINGTON (CBS) -- In a history-making act this last day of Black History Month, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Monday night that would make lynching a federal crime.

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act is named after the Chicago teen whose lynching in Money, Mississippi in 1955 helped spark the Civil Rights movement.

The bill passed by a vote of 422-3, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illiinois).

Rush said in part in a statement: "Today is a day of enormous consequence for our nation," said Rep. Rush. "By passing my Emmett Till Antilynching Act, the House has sent a resounding message that our nation is finally reckoning with one of the darkest and most horrific periods of our history, and that we are morally and legally committed to changing course."

Under the bill, a crime could be prosecuted as a lynching when a conspiracy to commit a hate crime results in death of serious bodily injury, according to Rush's office. The maximum sentence for someone convicted under the Antilynching Act would be 30 years in prison.

The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate.

The bill also passed the U.S. House during the 116th Congress in February 2020, but was blocked in the Senate.