Ed Johnson

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In 1906, a young African American man named Ed Johnson was brutally murdered by a lynch mob in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He had been condemned to death for the alleged rape of Nevada Taylor, but Justice John Marshall Harlan of the United States Supreme Court had issued a stay of execution. To prevent delay or avoidance of execution, a mob stormed into the jail where Johnson was being held and brutally lynched him. During Johnson's incarceration, there was intense public interest in the case, and many people, including court officers, feared a possible lynch attempt.[1] The day after his murder saw widespread strikes among the black community in Chattanooga. Two thousand people attended his funeral on the next day.[2] Following the murder, President Roosevelt made it his goal to have the members of the mob put behind bars by getting the secret service men involved in the investigation.[3] Sheriff Joseph Shipp, who had arrested Johnson, was found guilty of contempt of court in United States v. Shipp,; the only criminal trial ever held by the United States Supreme Court. Johnson, while in jail, made a Christian profession and was baptized. He publicly forgave those who were about to execute him. On Johnson's tombstone are his final words "God Bless you all. I AM A Innocent Man." at the top. On the bottom is written "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord". Summary history taken directly from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_of_Ed_Johnson Created using: http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/