Did You Know That Italian-Americans Were Lynched?

In a morning tweet today, President Trump compared his impeachment inquiry to a “lynching.” 

News outlets are reporting that the lynching tweet opens deep wounds for blacks in America. No doubt, this is true. 

However, the tweet allows us to acknowledge that racism in America is—and has been— broader than blacks as a target for hate. 

Italian immigrants were treated very much like blacks, including being lynched by mobs.

The worst instance occurred in New Orleans on March 14, 1891. A mob murdered 11 Italian Americans for their alleged role in the murder of police chief David Hennessy after some of them had been acquitted at trial. It is believed to be the largest single mass lynching in U.S. history.

The focus of this mob terror were the defendants who were acquitted. Believing the jury had been bribed, a mob broke into the jail where the men were being held and killed eleven of the prisoners.

Some of the city’s most prominent citizens were present for the lynchings.

The American public responded with hate toward Italians, not sympathy. 
Anti-Italian sentiment led to calls for restrictions on immigration—restrictions that came into being in 1917, 1921, and 1924.
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As the mob was breaking down the door with a battering ram, prison warden Lemuel Davis let the 19 Italian prisoners out of their cells and told them to hide as best they could.

The killings were carried out by a small, disciplined “execution squad” led by city leaders, including Walter Denegre (lawyer), James D. Houston (politician and businessman); and John C. Wickliffe, editor of the New Delta newspaper. The lynch mob included John M. Parker, who was later elected as Louisiana’s governor, and Walter C. Flower, who was later elected as mayor of New Orleans.

One of the victims was Emmanuele Polizzi, a street vendor, who was thought to be mentally ill. He was dragged from prison, hanged from a lamppost, and shot. Antonio Bagnetto, a fruit peddler, was hanged from a tree and shot.

Here is a list of the victims. May their brutal murders be a memory for us today as we confront hate and gross misuse of lynchings for crass political purposes.

The following people were lynched:

Antonio Bagnetto, fruit peddler: Tried and acquitted.

James Caruso, stevedore: Not tried.

Loreto Comitis, tinsmith: Not tried.

Rocco Geraci, stevedore: Not tried.

Joseph P. Macheca, fruit importer: Tried and acquitted.

Antonio Marchesi, fruit peddler: Tried and acquitted.

Pietro Monasterio, cobbler: Mistrial.

Emmanuele Polizzi, street vendor: Mistrial.

Frank Romero, ward politician: Not tried.

Antonio Scaffidi, fruit peddler: Mistrial.

Charles Traina, rice plantation laborer: Not tried.