Following appeals by Hollywood veteran actor Sylvester Stallone and Former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, US President Donald Trump has granted a rare posthumous presidential pardon to late boxing champion Jack Johnson.
Jackson served a one year sentence in what many saw as his racially charged conviction after the athlete who was the first black boxing heavyweight champion was convicted by an all-white jury for violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposes.
Donald Trump during the brief ceremony at the oval office, flanked by Stalone and Lewis said, “It’s my honor to do it. It’s about time”. The president also said that he took the decision as a way of ‘correcting a wrong in history’.
“His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial,” Trump had tweeted in April. “Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!” the president added.