A group of men carrying a white nationalist flag were caught on camera Saturday attempting to film a video in front of the Emmett Till memorial in Sumner, Mississippi.

Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, told NBC News that the group was captured on camera by a new surveillance system that was updated when the bulletproof memorial was dedicated on 19 October.

Since sharing videos of what happened, the group has raised more than $5,000 (£3,865) from supporters of their work.

Image: Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi after being accused of flirting with a white woman

"This is the first incident we've seen of what appears to be white nationalists making a propaganda video," Mr Weems said.

One man can be heard in the video identifying the sign as a monument representing the "civil rights movement for blacks".


"What we want to know is, where are the all of the white people?" he continued.

In another clip, the group can be seen scrambling for their cars after sirens go off, a newly added security feature.

Since the incident Saturday morning, the site has been monitored by the Tallahatchie County Sheriff's Office.

Image: One of the signs that was shot at

The men were carrying a white flag with a black St Andrews cross, a symbol authorities said was connected to a neo-Confederate group called the League of the South in Alabama, according to Mr Weems.

Southern Poverty Law Centre identifies the League of the South as a hate group that has "increasingly embraced violence, criticised perceived Jewish power and warned black people that they would be defeated in a future race war".

Emmett Till was 14 years old when he was abducted, tortured and brutally murdered by two white men in 1955 after the teen was accused of whistling at a white woman.

Emmett was visiting family in the area when he was kidnapped and then found dead days later in the Tallahatchie River.

The woman involved alleged that Emmett had touched her waist, something which she admitted to fabricating in 2008.

Two men accused of his murder were acquitted by an all-white all-male jury, but told Look magazine in 1956 that they had in fact murdered Emmett.

Image: One of the Emmett Till signs on the route that remembers him

Signs memorialising Emmett have been vandalised and shot at multiple times since the first marker was put up in 2007, according to the commission.

A bulletproof sign, the fourth Emmett Till memorial in the area, was dedicated on 19 October, to replace a sign that had been "riddled with 20 bullet holes".

Mr Weems told Sky News there have been no serious repercussions for those who have committed similar acts in the past.

He highlighted the case of a group of white University of Mississippi students who were suspended from their fraternity after posing for pictures while armed in front of the memorial which has visible bullet holes.

According to Mr Weems, previous versions have been vandalised, had acid thrown on them and were repeatedly shot at. The current sign was made bulletproof for this reason.

Mr Weems told Sky News: "The only deterrent is that every time an incident like this happens, we make a lot of money."

Image: One of the signs being installed

The memorial commission launched the Emmett Till Memory Project the same day, an app that uses GPS markers at historic sites to tell the story of Emmett Till. The landowner who owned the farm by the river where Emmett's body was found has donated the land, where the memorial commission hopes to raise funds to create another memorial site.

Mr Weems told NBC News said that the organisation was proud to work with the community to keep the legacy of Emmett Till alive.

"We want to respond to this hate speech by continuing to do this work."