Trump pardons boxer Jack Johnson

[edjr 5,547]

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing's first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson's name more than 100 years after what many see as his racially-charged conviction.

 

"I am taking this very righteous step, I believe, to correct a wrong that occurred in our history and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion," Trump said during an Oval Office ceremony. He was joined by WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, retired heavyweight titleholder Lennox Lewis and actor Sylvester Stallone, whom Trump credited with championing the pardon.

 

Trump said Johnson had served 10 months in prison "for what many view as a racially-motivated injustice."

 

"It's my honor to do it. It's about time," the president said.

 

Johnson, a prominent athlete who crossed over into popular culture decades ago with biographies, dramas and documentaries, was convicted in 1913 by an all-white jury for violating the Mann Act for traveling with his white girlfriend. That law made it illegal to transport women across state lines for "immoral" purposes."

 

Trump had tweeted in late April that Stallone, a longtime friend, had brought Johnson's story to his attention in a phone call.

 

"His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial. Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!" Trump wrote then.

 

The Oval Office ceremony was a celebratory scene, bringing together boxing greats past, present and fictional. The guests brought with them a colorful boxing championship belt, which sat front and center on the president's Resolute Desk as he spoke. At one point, Trump jokingly asked Lewis whether he could "take Deontay in a fight" if he really started working out.

 

Lewis said Johnson had been an inspiration to him personally, while Stallone said Johnson had served as the basis of the character Apollo Creed in his "Rocky" films.

 

"This has been a long time coming," he said.

 

Trump has a personal history with the sport, and hosted matches in the 1990s at his hotels.

 

After Johnson's conviction, he spent seven years as a fugitive, but eventually returned to the U.S. and turned himself in. He served about a year in federal prison and was released in 1921. He died in 1946 in an auto crash.

 

His great-great niece, Linda E. Haywood, had pressed Trump for a posthumous pardon, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had promoted Johnson's case for years.

 

The son of former slaves, Johnson defeated Tommy Burns for the heavyweight title in 1908 at a time when blacks and whites rarely entered the same ring. He then beat a series of "great white hopes," culminating in 1910 with the undefeated former champion, James J. Jeffries.

 

McCain previously told The Associated Press that Johnson "was a boxing legend and pioneer whose career and reputation were ruined by a racially charged conviction more than a century ago."

 

"Johnson's imprisonment forced him into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice, and continues to stand as a stain on our national honor," McCain has said.

 

Haywood, who joined Trump in the Oval Office, said her great-great uncle's conviction had led her family members to live in shame of his legacy.

 

"For so long my family was deeply ashamed that my uncle went to prison," she told Trump, adding that said she didn't find they were related until she was 12 years old.

 

"By this pardon being issued, that would help to rewrite history and erase the shame and the humiliation that my family felt for my uncle, a great hero," she said.

 

Posthumous pardons are rare, but not unprecedented.

 

President Bill Clinton pardoned Henry O. Flipper, the first African-American officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. President George W. Bush pardoned Charles Winters, an American volunteer in the Arab-Israeli War convicted of violating the U.S. Neutrality Acts in 1949.

 

Haywood had wanted Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, to pardon Johnson, but Justice Department policy says "processing posthumous pardon petitions is grounded in the belief that the time of the officials involved in the clemency process is better spent on the pardon and commutation requests of living persons."

 

The Justice Department makes decisions on potential pardons through an application process and typically makes recommendations to the president. The Justice Department's general policy is to not accept applications for posthumous pardons for federal convictions, according to the department's website. But Trump has shown a willingness to work around the DOJ process in the past.

 

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-pardons-boxer-jack-johnson-171248007--politics.html

 

 

More racial hate from white supremacist Donald KKK Trump

[Alias Detective 1,179]

It all an act. Just wait.......in before the libs.

[LOD01 185]

They asked Obama to do the same. For 8 years, he was too busy thinking up scams that he could capitalize on.

[Strike 3,949]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

[Mike Honcho 4,009]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

 

Johnson wasn't Kenyan.

[edjr 5,547]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

 

He left a note taped to the desk for Trump

[Hardcore troubadour 12,588]

Obama was too busy pardoning drug dealers and other violent criminals.

[Mr. Hand 482]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

He hates this country.

[Strike 3,949]

Obama doesn't really care about the plight of the black man.

 

FYP

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

It all an act. Just wait.......in before the libs.

 

hes just pandering to get the black votes up

[Mookz 1,287]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

 

It seems to me that "maybe" pretty much always means "no".

[Mike Honcho 4,009]

 

FYP

 

On second thought I doubt that was the issue...probably more Johnson family didn't want to "Pay to Play".

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

It all an act. Just wait.......in before the libs.

The Justice Department makes decisions on potential pardons through an application process and typically makes recommendations to the president. The Justice Department's general policy is to not accept applications for posthumous pardons for federal convictions, according to the department's website. But Trump has shown a willingness to work around the DOJ process in the past.

 

 

here it is, they can attack it for him going around DOJ

[kutulu 1,542]

pardon me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

do you have any grey poupon?

[wiffleball 4,631]

All of Jack Johnson songs sound the same. He's like Colbie Caillat with a penus.

[cbfalcon 824]

I'm sure Johnson was guilty of something though

[Vince44 202]

They asked Obama to do the same. For 8 years, he was too busy thinking up scams that he could capitalize on.

Is that a fact? Trump is only doing this cause Stallone asked him to do it. A favor for a friend. He is obsessed with the media's perception of him. Great PR move as well.

[Strike 3,949]

Is that a fact? Trump is only doing this cause Stallone asked him to do it. A favor for a friend. He is obsessed with the media's perception of him. Great PR move as well.

What horrible reasons!! He should have been more like Clinton, who pardoned real criminals for ca$h.

[Vince44 202]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

Who knows. He was kinda busy leading the mission that successfully killed the man responsible for this country's largest terrorist attack. How many other presidents passed up on giving a pardon to Johnson? Just cause he was black means he should've being the one overturn the whole thing? Shoddy reasoning.

[kutulu 1,542]

Tyson is next

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

Is that a fact? Trump is only doing this cause Stallone asked him to do it. A favor for a friend. He is obsessed with the media's perception of him. Great PR move as well.

 

actually Stallone asked him to look at it, and Trump did. Anyone who reads the story of Johnson knows it should have happened

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

Who knows. He was kinda busy leading the mission that successfully killed the man responsible for this country's largest terrorist attack. How many other presidents passed up on giving a pardon to Johnson? Just cause he was black means he should've being the one overturn the whole thing? Shoddy reasoning.

 

yep he was over there in the sand, breaking into the compound, full credit though, he accomplished 1 thing in 8 years

[MTSkiBum 1,593]

I am more of a john jackson supporter, he has the courage to stand up to everything people hate. Who wants a titanium tariff, the last thing we need is a trade war.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,588]

Who knows. He was kinda busy leading the mission that successfully killed the man responsible for this country's largest terrorist attack. How many other presidents passed up on giving a pardon to Johnson? Just cause he was black means he should've being the one overturn the whole thing? Shoddy reasoning.

How did he ever find time to slo- jam the news and sit between two ferns?

[Voltaire 4,554]

How the fock did Obama not do this???

It says towards the end of the article they were only focused on processing the appeals of living people.

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

They asked Obama to do the same. For 8 years, he was too busy thinking up scams that he could capitalize on.

 

like the net worth sweep

[BunnysBastatrds 1,909]

Slow Clap....again.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Great and honorable move by Trump.

 

Shame on Obummer and all the other Presidents since 1946 for doing this sooner.

[Voltaire 4,554]

Great and honorable move by Trump.

 

Shame on Obummer and all the other Presidents since 1946 for doing this sooner.

Obummer's excuse is plausible. Only focus on living people.

 

That's a fine mindless bureaucracy answer BTW. Just following the rules, not thinking about them. This would have been a gimme.

 

Failing to act sure as hell handed Trump a major PR coup on a silver platter.

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

Smoke and mirrors