Other black newspapers also carried significant coverage of the lynching, as did liberal monthly magazines such as "The New Republic" and "The Nation". Freeman traveled around the U.S. to speak to audiences about her investigation, maintaining that a shift in public opinion could accomplish more than legislative actions. Although there were other lynchings as brutal as Washington's, the availability of photographs and the setting of his death made it a "cause célèbre". Leaders of the NAACP hoped to launch a legal battle against those responsible for Washington's death, but abandoned the plan owing to the projected cost.