A new report says more than 70 suspected modern-day lynchings have occurred across seven Southern states since 2000, challenging the long-held belief that lynching ended decades ago.
The report, titled “A Crimson Record,” was produced by the civil rights organization Justice for Julius Action Network, often referred to as JULIAN. Researchers examined cases between 2000 and 2025 in Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama.
According to the report, investigators
identified more than 70 suspected modern-day lynchings in those seven states, with Mississippi recording the highest number at 20 cases. The study reviewed deaths involving victims from marginalized communities and examined whether the circumstances surrounding those deaths reflected patterns historically associated with racial terror violence.The research draws inspiration from Ida B. Wells’ 1895 anti-lynching investigation, A Red Record, one of the earliest documented efforts to catalogue racial terror killings in the
United States. By referencing Wells’ work, the authors argue that racial violence did not disappear but instead became less visible in official records.JULIAN founder Jill Collen Jefferson said the report is meant to challenge the idea that lynching is solely a historical phenomenon.
“Lynching has never disappeared — it has adapted, hidden behind silence and indifference,” Jefferson said in remarks included in the report’s release.
The report points to several recent deaths cited by researchers as examples of cases that raised questions among families and community members. Among them are Tory Medley, who was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi in 2025, and Trevontae Shubert-Helton, a 29-year-old whose body was discovered hanging from a tree in North Georgia in 2024. The report also references the 2018 death of Willie Andrew Jones Jr., a 21-year-old found hanging from a tree in Mississippi.
Jefferson said A Crimson Record’s goal is to push for deeper scrutiny of suspicious deaths and greater public awareness about the historical and contemporary realities of racial violence.
“We have to be honest about the past and about the present,” Jefferson said, adding that the report is intended to encourage stronger investigations and accountability when suspicious deaths occur.
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