Scottsboro Boys - Lynch Mob

Lynch Mob

In the Jim Crow South, a black male risked lynching by merely looking at a white woman, and word quickly spread of the arrest and rape story. Soon a lynch mob gathered at the jail in Scottsboro, demanding the youths be surrendered.

Sheriff Matt Wann stood in front of the jail and addressed the mob. He said he would kill the first person to come through the door. He then removed his belt and handed his gun to one of his deputies. He walked through the mob and the crowd parted to let him through. He was not touched by anyone. He walked across the street to the courthouse where he telephoned Governor Benjamin M. Miller who then called in the National Guard to protect the jail before taking the defendants to Gadsden, Alabama for indictment and to await trial by the all-white jury. Although rape was potentially a capital offense, the defendants were not allowed to consult an attorney. Most were illiterate.