1899 William McKinley - Five Italians Lynched at Tallulah, Louisiana

"Five Italians Lynched" ... imagine reading that on the front page of the New York Times today. Seems quite impossible for something like that to happen today, but in 1899 it was the fourth such event in a decade. According to the New York times, five Italians were lynched on July 20th for the fatal wounding of a doctor on the streets of Tallulah, a town of 250 people, 21 miles west of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  But here is the real kicker, like most of the newspapers of the time, the New York Times reported it in a celebratory manner. There were no condemnations of the lynch mob, and no one was punished because of it.

According to the NYT article, the five men lynched were "of a class which has been troublesome for some time". The names of the five dead men were Frank Defatta, Charles Defatta, Joe Defatta, Sy Deferroch, and John Cereno. The five of the men were the only Italians in the town and all had immigrated from Cefalu Sicily.  Local newspapers reported that these immigrants were "a bad gang" and had reputations of being violent and easily excited. The men had gotten into a confrontation with a local Doctor by the name of J. Ford Hodge. For several weeks, some of Frank Defatta's goats were found sleeping and running in the home and office of Dr. Hodge. One night, Dr. Hodge shot one of the goats and the next day was visited by Frank Defatta who according to the NYT came to his office and said: "You shoot my goat, now you better shoot me". Later that evening, Charles DeFatta and Dr. Hodge got into a physical confrontation, and as the Doctor started to draw for his pistol, Joe Defatta showed up a the door with a double-barreled shotgun unloading one shell into the Doctor's hand and the other into his abdomen. Upon hearing the gunshot, Sy Deferroch and John Creno ran to the scene with long knives in their hands. 

The town Sheriff and his posse later stormed to the Defatta home and started to drag Charles and Joe to jail.  By time they reached the Court House Square, a crowd of 250 citizens overpowered the Sheriff and took Joe and Charles to the slaughter house pen and hung them to the gallows.  Joe accused Charles of the shooting, and Charles accused Joe. Charles said Frank and Sy started it all. The crowed remained calm and in an orderly manner overpowered the jailor and took the remaining prisoners to an oak tree in the jail yard. Despite pleadings from many good citizens, all five were hanged and buried in a Potter's field nearby. These were just five of the 1665 persons who died at the hands of lynch mobs. While most of those lynched were Southern blacks, many were Italian immigrants. 

There was one man who spoke out forcefully against these lynch mobs, and that was President William McKinley. In his 1899 State of the Union Address, President McKinley called them "deplorable events" and referred to the five men as "five unfortunates of Italian origin". McKinley had to face the government of Italy and explain to them why American citizens had lynched them without any due justice for the fourth time in the last decade. The Italian authorities along with the Italian Embassy had opened an investigation into the occurrence because it was alleged that victims were citizens of Italy and the United States had not been able to identify or punish any members of the lynch mob. McKinley welcomed this investigation and hoped that it would result in a fair and just outcome. But, this "blind mob fury" directed at foreign nationals and immigrants needed to be addressed. McKinley like his predecessor Benjamin Harrison wanted Congress to take action to give the Federal courts jurisdiction and responsibility for cases dealing with crimes against foreign nationals living in the United States. 

"For the fourth time in the present decade, question has arisen with the Government of Italy in regard to the lynching of Italian subjects. The latest of these deplorable events occurred at Tallulah, Louisiana, whereby five unfortunates of Italian origin were taken from jail and hanged.
The authorities of the State and a representative of the Italian Embassy having separately investigated the occurrence, with discrepant results, particularly as to the alleged citizenship of the victims, and it not appearing that the State had been able to discover and punish the violators of the law, an independent investigation has been set on foot, through the agency of the Department of State, and is still in progress. The result will enable the Executive to treat the question with the Government of Italy it) a spirit of fairness and justice. A satisfactory solution will doubtless be reached.
The recurrence of these distressing manifestations of blind mob fury directed at dependents or natives of a foreign country suggests that the contingency has arisen for action by Congress in the direction of conferring upon the Federal courts jurisdiction in this class of international cases where the ultimate responsibility of the Federal Government may be involved. "

McKinley reminded Congress, that this was not something new. In 1891, President Harrison had made a very similar request. Harrison urged Congress to rectify the problem that offenses against foreign nationals living in the United States were not "cognizable" in the Federal Courts. Without this power, Federal officers and the courts had now power to intervene for the protection or foreign citizens, not punish those who commit crimes against them.

"The suggestion is not new. In his annual message of December 9, 1891, my predecessor, President Harrison, said: 

It would, I believe, be entirely competent for Congress to make offenses against the treaty rights of foreigners domiciled in the United States cognizable in the Federal courts. This has not, however, been done, and the Federal officers and courts have no power in such cases to intervene either for the protection of a foreign citizen or for the punishment of his slayers. It seems to me to follow, in this state of the law, that the officers of the State charged with police and judicial powers in such cases must, in the consideration of international questions growing out of such incidents, be regarded in such sense as Federal agents as to make this Government answerable for their acts in cases where it would be answerable if the United States had used its constitutional power to define and punish crimes against treaty rights."

In 1892, a bill to punish violations of treat rights of aliens was introduced in the Senate.  McKinley explained that the bill would have enforced Article II of the treaty between the United States an Italy signed in 1871 that required each country to offer "constant protection and security for their persons and property" and that each would enjoy the same rights and privileges of those granted to natives.   The 1892 bill would have made any act committed in any state or territory of the United States in violation against the rights of a foreign citizen, a crime against the United States and under the jurisdiction of the Federal courts, but no action was taken by Congress, and the bill died. President McKinley now urged them to bring such a bill up for consideration again. The lynching of the five Italian men in Tallulah was a stark reminder of why such a law is needed.  McKinley pointed out that civil suits brought by aliens were already being taken up by district and circuit courts, so the precedent for constituting a Federal jurisdiction in criminal cases against an alien had already been set. If the courts care enough to handle civil cases of merely a civil matter, how much greater is the public duty of the courts to handle matters affecting the rights and lives of aliens guaranteed by treaties and the principles of international law, especially in cases such as a "mob murder", where "local justice is too often helpless to punish the offenders".

"A bill to provide for the punishment of violations of treaty rights of aliens was introduced in the Senate March 1, 1892, and reported favorably March 30. Having doubtless in view the language of that part of Article III of the treaty of February 26, 1871, between the United States and Italy, which stipulates that " The citizens of each of the high contracting parties shall receive, in the States and Territories of the other, most constant protection and security for their persons and property, and shall enjoy in this respect the same rights and privileges as are or shall be granted to the natives, on their submitting themselves to the conditions imposed upon the natives," the bill so introduced and reported provided that any act committed in any State or Territory of the United States in violation of the rights of a citizen or subject of a foreign country secured to such citizen or subject by treaty between the United States and such foreign country and constituting a crime under the laws of the State or Territory shall constitute a like crime against the United States and be cognizable in the Federal courts. No action was taken by Congress in the matter.
I earnestly recommend that the subject be taken tip anew and acted upon during the present session. The necessity for some such provision abundantly appears. Precedent for constituting a Federal jurisdiction in criminal cases where aliens are sufferers is rationally deducible from the existing statute, which gives to the district and circuit courts of the United States jurisdiction of civil suits brought by aliens where the amount involved exceeds a certain sum. If such jealous solicitude be shown for alien rights in cases of merely civil and pecuniary import, how much greater should be the public duty to take cognizance of matters affecting the lives and the rights of aliens tinder the settled principles of international law no less than under treaty stipulation, in cases of such transcendent wrong. doing as mob murder, especially when experience has shown that local justice is too often helpless to punish the offenders."

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Third Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/third-annual-message-15 [Accessed 30 Jan. 2019].

Sites.rootsweb.com. (2019). GUNS, GOATS, AND ITALIANS: THE TALLULAH LYNCHING OF 1899. [online] Available at: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~lamadiso/articles/lynchings.htm [Accessed 30 Jan. 2019].

Timesmachine.nytimes.com. (2019). Five Italians Lynched. [online] Available at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/07/22/117928394.pdf [Accessed 30 Jan. 2019].