Tweet on slain officers ignored ‘racist episode’
Police chief cites need to be ‘more sensitive’ after removal of post that didn’t mention that Black soldiers were tormented
The Camp Logan Mutiny of 1917 was more than unrest, scholars say.
But that’s how a short-lived tweet from the Houston Police Department painted the violent night. The tweet saluted five officers killed that night as more than 150 Black soldiers sought retribution after weeks of torment by white civilians and local law enforcement.
The social media post, part of the department’s frequent “End of Watch” series for officers killed in the line of duty, went live at 8 a.m. Monday and said that officers Rufus Daniels, Ira Raney, Daniel Patton, Horace Moody and Edward Meinecke were shot and killed in 1917 “after unrest sparked by the arrest of several soldiers.” Missing from the tweet was context about what preceded their deaths or what happened afterward. Nineteen soldiers were executed.
One of the officers, Daniels, was responsible for beating a corporal who inquired about a jailed soldier.
Hours later, Chief Troy Finner had the tweet deleted, officials said.
Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said several community members contacted Finner about the post and that he then asked for it to be removed.
“He wants to respect fallen officers, but this is also a dark and painful moment in history,” Silva said.
When asked about the decision Wednesday, Finner said, “We do have to be more sensitive.” He declined to identify who reached out to him about the post.
The tweet garnered some attention online before its removal. Misdemeanor judge Franklin Bynum did not reach out to Finner but expressed outrage that the department would publicly commemorate “one of the most notorious, racist episodes in the department’s history.”
One history expert argues that reducing the mutiny to unrest simplifies a complicated situation.
The clash stemmed from Black soldiers with the Third Battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment reaching a boiling point after the arrests. The U.S. had just entered World War I., and officials dispatched the battalion to Houston to guard construction of Camp Logan, about where Memorial Park now stands. Jim Crow laws made the city a hostile environment for the soldiers, said Ronald Goodwin, associate professor of history at Prairie View A&M University.
“The story goes that a particular soldier saw HPD roughing up a Black female and he intervened,” Goodwin said. “As a result, he got the beat down and was taken to jail.”
Another soldier saw the arrest and hurried back to base and told the others what he saw. A corporal who confronted the police about the arrest was shot at, beaten and arrested. Rumors started flying that the officers had killed him and a white mob was headed for them.
The soldiers disobeyed orders to remain at the camp and instead broke into a supply tent for rifles. The group marched down what is now Allen Parkway, Goodwin said, and fired into the night. About 15 white civilians and the five police officers were killed.
The largest murder trial and court-martial in U.S. history followed. Thirteen soldiers were hanged that December, 63 were handed life sentences and six more were executed in 1918.
Researchers at Prairie View have since found “no conclusive evidence or reliable witness testimony that any of the first group of executed men had participated in the riots.”
Goodwin called the trial a sham. “Houston history tried to whitewash this because they didn’t want it to be known. Historians found it. Every now and then, it comes up,” he continued.
Angela Holder, history professor at Houston Community College, is the great-niece of Jesse Brown, one of the soldiers hanged in the first round. She has researched the mutiny for more than 20 years. She continues to seek a pardon for the soldiers.
“The hourglass is ticking away on getting something done,” Holder said.