Police Forbidden to Use Their Firearms to Withhold Rioters.
Type of event: Lynchings
Location: Duluth; St. Louis County; Minnesota; United States
Document date:
Document type: Newspaper(s)
Documents: Police Forbidden to Use Their Firearms to Withhold Rioters.
Citation:
Duluth Herald, June 16, 1920, page 1, 14.
“Police Forbidden to Use Their Firearms to Withhold Rioters”
Image text
Police Forbidden To Use There Firearms To Withold
Rioters
Several Officers Injured by
Bricks and Other
Missiles
Thrown by Mob.
Force Totally Inadequate
to
Handle Situation,
Says
Murnian.
Believes Order Not to
Use
Arms Saved Many
From Injury.
The police force of Duluth was totally inadequate to handle a situation
like that which developed last night, was the assertion of Commissioner of
Safety W. F. Murnian this morning, regarding the lynching last night. Every
effort was made to control the mob, but it was so large that the police as well
as the Sheriff’s force were handicapped from the start. Strict orders
from Commissioner Murnian that under no provocation were any of the police to
use fire arms, doubtless prevented much bloodshed although many of the police
were injured by flying bricks and stones. None of them were handled by the mob
with the exception of Sergeant Oscar Olson, who strove to the last to prevent
the mob from reaching the prisoners.
“Even if we had had a much larger
force of police on hand. I don’t see how they could have stopped that
crowd,” said Mr. Murnian. “We did everything in our power and had
every force that could be assembled including the fire department, and fought
the mob until the last policeman was overpowered, before giving up. It simply
was impossible to stop them. The condition of the police headquarters plainly
shows what the spirit illegible mob was. I gave strict orders to illegible the
men to use firearms under illegible consideration and I believe this had a great
deal to do with the lack of serious injuries.”
Chief John Murphy,
Capt. A. G. Fisket and Chief of Detectives Frank Schulte had left for Virginia
at noon to search for three other Negroes implicated in the assault and the
police affairs were temporarily in charge of Sergeant Oscar Olson. Chief
Murphy, with eight prisoners was on his way back to Duluth, when he was met and
informed that “’hell was poppin’ in Duluth.” The
prisoners were hastily rushed to the late train and the po-
(Continued on page 14, first column.)
POLICE FORBIDDEN TO USE THEIR FIREARMS TO WITHHOLD
RIOTERS
(Continued from page 1.)
lice claim, sent to St. Paul. The three remaining prisoners left in the jail
by the mob were also sent out the back way and to the same train.
On the
arrival of Chief Murphy and Capt. Fiskett a hasty conference was held to
ascertain just what could be done, but as the mob had the prisoners and had left
the building, the only thing that could be done was to clear the streets of the
mob. As they had satisfied their revenge, this was done without much
trouble.
Chief Murphy expressed regret that some action and not been taken
earlier in the evening when the mob first began to gather and to stop the trucks
from running up and down Superior street picking up crowds with the invitation
to “join the neck-tie party.”
A number of the policemen were
severely bruised and needed the attention of the police surgeon. Officer Mart
Stewart was the most severely injured being hit in the arm by a brick.