Colfax massacre killers all went free despite federal prosecutions

Evidence

During the infamous Colfax massacre in Louisiana (1873), about one hundred and fifty African Americans died (along with three whites). The federal government indicted ninety-​seven men; nine actually went to trial. The white community raised money to defend them; one local man raffled off a fancy watch. The all-​white jury acquitted every last defendant. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2925

Categorization

• XREF: Foreshadows and contextualizes the later chapter claims that Southern courts and juries shielded white supremacist violence from the law. — connects to: The Slaughterhouse decision enabled later exoneration of Colfax Massacre killers — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 674
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: the Colfax massacre is directly the case behind United States v. Cruikshank (1876), which gutted federal enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment against private actors — worth confirming how Friedman treats it here.

Broader Connections

• The Slaughterhouse decision enabled later exoneration of Colfax Massacre killers #expands (0.85) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 674