United States President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that he’s considering a pardon for late boxer Jack Johnson following a request from Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone.
Johnson, who died in 1946, was convicted by an all-white jury in Chicago in 1913 of violating the White-Slave Traffic Act, for traveling with a white woman.
Johnson was convicted even though the alleged crime took place before the law was passed. Johnson skipped bail and fled the country, living in exile, before ultimately surrendering and returning to serve his one-year sentence.
Sylvester Stallone called me with the story of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018
Activists and family members have been requesting Johnson’s posthumous pardon, as have former senators John McCain Harry Reid.
“Jack Johnson was a boxing legend and pioneer whose career and reputation were ruined by a racially charged conviction more than a century ago,” McCain said in a statement this year. “Johnson’s imprisonment forced him into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice, and continues to stand as a stain on our national honor.”