article_snippet: If the death is ruled a murder, The NAACP's concerns are that is has echoes of a lynching.
article_snippet: However, the NAACP is petitioning to have the U.S. Department of Justice involved in the investigation, fearing Byrd's death may have been a hate crime.
article_snippet: Lynching was a common form of 'mob justice' in the late 19th century, particularly in the south.
article_snippet: A report by the Equal Justice Initiative claims there were nearly 4,000 lynchings of African Americans in the Jim Crow era across 12 states of the US.
highlights_snippet: Death has similarities to a lynching .
  