Floyd Mann - Freedom Riders

Freedom Riders

Mann was the Director of Public Safety for the state of Alabama in 1961, when the nonviolent Freedom Riders came into the state seeking an end to segregation. The state's governor at that time, John Patterson, was resisting Attorney General Robert Kennedy's demands that the Freedom Riders be protected from the Ku Klux Klan and others who were attacking them at their Alabama stops. Patterson was a committed segregationist who called the Freedom Riders "fools" and "agitators" for whom he did not want to "play nursemaid".

Mann offered to protect the riders if he was given the proper resources. With the understanding that the state and city police of Alabama would offer assistance.

Kennedy sent a representative down to talk to Patterson, who had his entire cabinet attend the meeting. He based his repeated refusal to protect the nonviolent demonstrators from the Klan on his argument that such protection was impossible to provide, and well beyond the capabilities of local or state law enforcement.

Violence in Alabama was organized by Birmingham Police Sergeant Tom Cook (an avid Ku Klux Klan supporter) and police commissioner Bull Connor. The pair made plans to bring the Ride to an end in Alabama. When the bus arrived in Birmingham, it was attacked by a mob of Ku Klux Klan members, aided and abetted by the police under the orders of Commissioner Bull Connor. As the riders exited the bus, they were mercilessly beaten by the mob with baseball bats, iron pipes and bicycle chains. Among the Klansmen attacking the riders was FBI informant Gary Thomas Rowe. White Freedom Riders were particularly singled out for frenzied beatings; James Peck required more than 50 stitches to the wounds in his head. Peck was taken to Carraway Methodist Medical Center, which refused to treat him; he was later treated at Jefferson Hillman Hospital.

Connor claimed that he posted no officers at the bus depot because of the holiday; however, it was later discovered that the FBI knew of the planned attack and that the city police stayed away on purpose. Patterson offered no apologies, explaining, "When you go somewhere looking for trouble, you usually find it . . . . You just can't guarantee the safety of a fool and that's what these folks are, just fools." When asked about Connor, Mann said "He was in charge, Bull Connor was in charge of the police department in Birmingham at that point in time. He was police commissioner." "his comment was that it was just absolutely ridiculous for those people to be in Alabama doing what they were doing."

Mann arrived on the loading dock a few minutes into the riot. He had been suspicious of Sullivan's assurances, but had no authority within the city limits. As a result, Mann had stationed highway patrolman a few blocks away, but amidst the chaos inside the station, he had to act on his own. A young black, William Barbee, was knocked to the pavement, then struck repeatedly with a heavy club; the mob was shouting, ‘Kill him! Kill him!’ It might have happened but for the sudden intervention of Colonel Floyd Mann, the Alabama Public Safety Director, who drew his pistol and ordered the attackers back, threatening to shoot if they didn’t. Firing warning shots, he came to the rescue of the Freedom Riders being beaten on the loading platform. He managed to back off some of the attackers. He also saved the life of Jim Zwerg. Zwerg had been beaten badly by the rioters. Two Freedom Riders and a reporter carried Zwerg, who appeared to be dying, to a taxicab. The white driver refused to drive Zwerg to the hospital. A deputy sheriff arrived - to read the injunction to Zwerg and the two other Freedom Riders. An African-American taxi driver agreed to take them to a doctor, but the police would not allow Zwerg to go. He would have to wait until a white ambulance arrived. Since Sullivan, as he later explained, had arranged for all the white ambulances to be in the repair shop on this date, the ambulance would never arrive. Mann had to intervene, directing one of his patrolmen to drive Zwerg to a hospital. (Zwerg would be hospitalized, but survived his injuries.)

Sullivan's police arrived 10 minutes into the riot, but initially took no action to halt the beatings. Hearing that Mann was on the loading platform, Sullivan rushed to the scene. As Sullivan tried to assert his authority over Mann, Judge Jones and State Attorney General MacDonald Gallion arrived to take charge. Their primary concern was not to stop the riot or arrest Klansmen, but to read the Judge's injunction to the nearly unconscious Freedom Riders. At that point, Mann called for his state troopers whom he had stationed several blocks away. Their arrival restored order to the terminal.' "