1933 “Mob Cheers As Negro Is Burned Alive”

This November 29, 1933 edition of The Birmingham Post features a cover story titled “Mob Cheers As Negro Is Burned Alive.” It says, “The latest victim of mob vengeance, Lloyd Warner, was dragged from his cell, beaten into insensibility, hanged and then burned…More than two hours after the negro had been hanged, hundreds of citizens surged about the pyre, shouting, laughing and jesting. A festive spirit prevailed….Photographers snapped pictures of the gruesome scene…Authorities did not interfere with the mob after it had performed its task. Most of the late hangers-on were women….Desiring not to fire into the mob, and perhaps kill or wound scores of women and children, the sheriff surrendered the negro…Witnesses said Warner was not dead when thrown on the fire. The crowd cheered as the flames enveloped his body. Meanwhile, state highway patrolmen, summoned from over the state by radio, arrived. Without molesting the gathering, they took stations over town and directed traffic….The mob remained intact for two hours after the lynching…estimated the crowd at about 9,000…said details were too revolting too mention.'”

Here is the other lynching-related story about how several boys described “how they had organized the ‘lynching party,’ directed the attack on the old brick jail, and procured the ropes used to hang Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes….Most of the citizens apparently agreed with Gov. James Rolph, Jr., that the lynching was a ‘good job.’ Rolph insisted that he had followed the correct course in refusing to call out troops to halt the mob.”

Back cover…