WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed a proclamation to establish a national monument to commemorate the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Ill. The riot was a seminal moment in the United States’ difficult history with racial violence targeting Black people. The two-day riot was sparked by mobs of white residents tearing through Illinois’ capital city under the pretext of meting out judgment against two Black men — one jailed on a sexual assault charge involving a white woman, and the other jailed in the separate murder of a white man. Biden was joined on Friday by lawmakers as well as civil rights and community leaders as he signed the proclamation establishing the monument on 1.57 acres of federal land.’

By Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller with Associated Press

*President Joe Biden, who is joined by civil rights leaders, community members, and elected officials, talks after handing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, fourth from left, the pen he used to sign a proclamation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Aug. 16, to designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., second from left, reacts. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)