Impact of The Case
Governor Rolph praised the action, stating that California had sent a message to future kidnappers, and promised to pardon anyone involved in the lynching. However, Rolph died on June 2, 1934, before any charges had been filed in the case. Alameda County District Attorney Earl Warren was the strongest supporter of prosecution for the lynching; eventually seven people were arrested for the lynchings, but none were convicted. In 1934, the Nazis used photographs of the lynchings as propaganda to show that lawless mobs in America were supporting the interests of Jews -- Brooke Hart's father was Jewish, his mother Catholic.
In the aftermath of the lynching, Governor Rolph was publicly condemned by former President Herbert Hoover, then at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Rolph struck back instantly, accusing Hoover of calling out the U.S. Army against the World War I "Bonus Marchers" who had gathered in Washington, D.C. in 1932 to protest lack of assistance to the veterans of that war. President Roosevelt also condemned the lynching, although subsequent Congressional attempts to outlaw lynching were defeated.
Holmes's parents sued Governor Rolph for his role in the lynching of their son, but the suit was dropped when the governor died of a heart attack in 1934. Thurmond's family took no action on his behalf and reportedly never again spoke about the matter amongst themselves. One young man was charged with the lynching after he publicly claimed credit for their deaths, but the charges were dropped. The Santa Clara County Grand Jury met the following year, but despite literally thousands of witnesses, sources of reporters, and hundreds of photographs, the grand jury found that no witnesses could identify anyone from the lynching, so no charges were filed.
The lynching was unique in American political and criminal justice history because it marked the first time that a lynching was a media event. It was also unique because of the political involvement of a state governor and the eager conspiracy by civic and business leaders and law enforcement (including the FBI) to lynch two men who had not been indicted, arraigned, tried, or sentenced for the crime in a court of law.
Read more about this topic: Brooke Hart
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