Fort Lawton Riot - Riot

Riot

The night of August 14, 1944, an African American port company at Fort Lawton, Seattle was under orders to ship out to the war zone the next morning. Just after 11 p.m, an intoxicated black soldier and his three companions crossed paths with three Italians, who may have also been drinking. Words were exchanged, the black soldier rushed forward, and with one punch, an Italian knocked the American out cold.

The Italians retreated to adjacent barracks, but the call went out about the confrontation. A number of black soldiers, including Pvt. Samuel Snow, ran after the Italians, wielding boards from a fence that they broke down. The Italians who were in their bunks for the night heard rocks and bricks being thrown against their windows in their dark quarters, assumed they were being attacked and began running, some jumping out of windows. In the melee, both Italians and United States soldiers were injured. Hearing the commotion, and responding to a 'whistle' calling them to defend their fellow soldiers, dozens of black soldiers came out of their barracks. A rumor began that one American was dead. (This was untrue.) Assuming they were being attacked, dozens of black soldiers headed into the Italian area, armed with rocks, fence posts and a couple of knives.

Private Clyde Lomax, a Caucasian member of the Military Police Corps, was responsible for patrolling the area known as the "Colored Area," and was on the scene almost immediately. He loaded the most severely injured American into his jeep, but delayed transporting him to the hospital. Lomax also failed to request back up from fellow military policemen or to notify the chain of command of the severity of the situation.

More than forty minutes passed before a contingent of military policemen arrived. By then, dozens were injured. The most seriously injured, all Italian prisoners-of-war, were transported to hospitals where one Italian spent 16 months recovering from his injuries.

The military policemen restored order without taking anyone into custody. Later, they claimed it had been too dark to identify any of the participants in the riot.

The next morning, Lomax, accompanied by a black military policeman, discovered the body of Guglielmo Olivotto, hanging from a noose on the obstacle course.