The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was first introduced in 1918 by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States House of Representatives as H.R. 11279. It was intended to establish lynching as a federal crime. Its passage was halted in the Senate by a filibuster by Southern Democrats, who formed a powerful block. No anti-lynching bill has been passed by both houses into federal law.