John William King sought to terrorize blacks in east Texas by murdering James Byrd Jr., but his vicious crime instead (eventually) provided federal law enforcement with additional tools to punish perpetrators of hate crimes.
A man who helped carry out the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. -- one of the most horrific hate crimes in modern American history -- was executed by injection on Wednesday evening in a Texas prison.
A man who helped orchestrate one of the most horrific hate crimes in modern American history -- the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in East Texas -- is slated to die Wednesday over the objections of some of Byrd's relatives.
