It should not have taken this long.

An avowed racist who orchestrated one of the most gruesome hate crimes in U.S. history
was executed Wednesday in Texas for the dragging death of a black man.
John William King, who was white, received lethal injection for the slaying nearly 21 years
ago of James Byrd Jr., who was chained to the back of a truck and dragged for nearly 3 miles
(5 kilometers) along a secluded road in the piney woods outside Jasper, Texas. The 49-year-old
Byrd was alive for at least 2 miles (3 kilometers) before his body was ripped to pieces in the
early morning hours of June 7, 1998.
Prosecutors said Byrd was targeted because he was black. King was openly racist and had offensive
tattoos on his body, including one of a black man with a noose around his neck hanging from a
tree, according to authorities.
King, 44, was put to death at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. He was the fourth inmate
executed this year in the U.S. and the third in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-james-byrd-john-william-king-execution-20190424-story.html