Houston, TX, January 5, 2018…The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is dismayed that the alleged ringleader of the three men who chained James Byrd, Jr. to the back of a truck and dragged him to his death in Jasper, Texas in 1998 is asking for a new trial.  According to reports, a lawyer for John William King is asking the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for the new trial claiming his original attorneys were inadequate and failed to present evidence that would have proven King’s innocence.

“The heartache never ends for the family of James Byrd, Jr.,” said Dayan Gross, ADL Southwest Regional Director.  “Here we are, nearly 20 years after his cruel and violent murder, and one of the men convicted of killing him is claiming it wasn’t racially motivated.  His lawyer also is making the outrageous claim that a tattoo on King’s body of a man being lynched isn’t racist.  We applaud Texas’ solicitor general for telling the court King’s claims are ‘meritless,’ and we are confident justice will prevail again in this case.”