TULSA, Okla. — The U.S. Department of Justice released its findings in a review of the Tulsa Race Massacre on Jan. 10.
2 News told you in October 2024 when the DOJ announced the investigation.
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'You should never forget' | US DOJ set to review Tulsa race massacre
The DOJ spent 48 hours meeting with survivors and descendants. It also reviewed evidence and historical information on the race massacre.
The 123-page report details what led to the massacre and what followed, as well as the impacts on the Greenwood community.
“The Tulsa Race Massacre stands out as a civil rights crime unique in its magnitude, barbarity, racist hostility and its utter annihilation of a thriving Black community,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The DOJ said between May 31 and June 1, 1921, white Tulsans mounted a concerted effort to destroy a vibrant Black community remembered today as Black Wall Street.
It specifically mentions that the City of Tulsa resisted offers of meaningful help to the victims and utterly failed to provide necessary aid or assistance.
Despite the gravity of the findings, the DOJ said no avenue of prosecution exists for crimes that occurred during the massacre. The youngest possible defendants would be more than 115 years old. Relevant statutes of limitations also ended decades ago.
"As antilynching advocate Ida B. Wells said, 'The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.' This report aims to do just that," the DOJ said.
The DOJ said had the crimes happened now, federal prosecutors could have pursued hate crime charges against the massacre's perpetrators, including public officials and private citizens.
"In addition, if modern interpretations of civil rights laws were in effect in 1921, police officers, public officials and any who acted in concert with such persons could have been prosecuted for willfully violating the civil rights of massacre victims. Many of these legal avenues, however, were not available in 1921. The few avenues for federal prosecution that were available in 1921 were not pursued."
The report recognized that some may find the department's inability to prosecute a painful or dissatisfying outcome.
"However, the review recognizes and documents the horrible events that occurred as well as the trauma and loss suffered by the residents of Greenwood. While legal and practical limitations prevent the perpetrators of the crimes committed in 1921 from being held criminally accountable in a court of law, the historical reckoning continues," the DOJ said.
Assistant Attorney General Clarke will convene with members of the Greenwood District, survivors and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Tulsa civil rights community and other stakeholders.
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