Court upholds order to unseal records in notorious lynching

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s order to unseal the transcripts in grand jury proceedings in the brazen lynching of two black couples in rural Georgia more than 70 years ago.

A car carrying the four sharecroppers was stopped by a white mob at Moore’s Ford Bridge in July 1946. The four were pulled from the car and shot multiple times.

FBI agents investigated for months and identified dozens of possible suspects. But a grand jury convened in December 1946 failed to indict anyone.

A federal judge in 2017 granted a request from historian Anthony Pitch to unseal the grand jury transcripts. But the government appealed, citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed the lower court ruling.

Kate Brumback, The Associated Press

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