Emmett Till Alert System created to raise awareness of hateful incidents in Maryland

Maryland launches Emmett Till Alert System

On Monday, Maryland launched the Emmett Till Alert System, which sends out a warning to lawmakers whenever there's a credible report of a hate crime or threat. The system works a lot like the amber alert system. Carl Snowden, the civil rights director for the Office of the Maryland Attorney General, joins FOX 5 to discuss the new initiative.

BETHESDA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - After a recent string of bomb threats at HBCUs and racially motivated graffiti incidents across Maryland, the Caucus of African American Leaders is launching the first-ever racial incidents alert system in the nation.

Young Emmett Till wears a hat. Chicago native Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi after flirting with a white woman.

It's called the Emmett Till Alerts, named after the Mississippi teenager who was murdered by white supremacists in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman, and the initiative goes into effect Monday.

The caucus said the alerts will raise awareness of hateful incidents throughout Maryland.

Emmett Till Alert System created to raise awareness of hateful incidents in Maryland

After a recent string of bomb threats at HBCUs and racially motivated graffiti incidents across Maryland, the Caucus of African American Leaders is launching the first-ever racial incidents alert system in the nation.

Apostle Antonio Palmer, president of the United Black Clergy of Anne Arundel County and senior pastor of the Kingdom Celebration Center in Gambrills, Maryland, has seen his church become a recent target of two incidents of vandalism with racist graffiti within a months time of each other.

"We welcome anything that will ensure the safety of our community. We believe the Emmett Till project has the potential to save lives."

The system will operate similarly to Amber Alerts. Elected officials, clergy, civil rights groups, and the media will be notified.