The Cincinnati Courthouse Riots Of 1884

 Interior view of the Court of Common Pleas in the Hamilton County Courthouse after it was damaged by fire, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1884. The fire was started during a riot sparked by public outrage over the outcome of a murder trial.

March 27, 1884:

 A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, US, attacks members of a jury who had returned a verdict of manslaughter in a clear case of murder, and then over the next few days would riot and destroy the courthouse.
The Cincinnati Riots of 1884, also known as the Cincinnati Courthouse Riots, were caused by public outrage over the decision of a jury to return a verdict of manslaughter in a clear case of murder. A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA attempted to find and lynch the perpetrator. In the violence that followed over the next few days, over 50 people died and the courthouse was destroyed. It was one of the most destructive riots in American history.
Cincinnati in the 1880s was a tough industrial city with a rising crime rate due, in part, to general dissatisfaction with labor conditions. The Cincinnati police force had 300 men and 5 patrol wagons. In this period they arrested 50 people for murder, but only four were hanged. By January 1, 1884, there were twenty-three accused murderers in the jail. The political system was corrupt, with leaders notorious for controlling elections and manipulating judges and juries. A full page article published in the Cincinnati Enquirer on March 9, 1884, said: "Laxity of laws gives the Queen City of the West its crimson record. Preeminence in art, science, and industry avail nothing where murder is rampant and the lives of citizens are unsafe even in broad daylight."
On December 24, 1883, a young German named William Berner and his accomplice, a mulatto named Joe Palmer, robbed and murdered their employer, a livery stable owner.  The murderers dumped the body of their victim, William Kirk, near the Mill Creek in Northside. After the men had been arrested, 500 potential jurymen were called before Berner's lawyer accepted the jury of twelve. After a prolonged trial, on March 26, 1884 the jury returned a manslaughter verdict despite the testimony of seven different people to whom Berner had admitted his cold-blooded planning and execution of the murder.  The judge, who gave a sentence of 20 years in prison, called the verdict "a damned outrage." The next day, the newspapers called for a public meeting to condemn the verdict.
A New York Times article, dated March 27, 1884, reported that James Bourne, one of the jurors, had spent the previous night at Bremen-street police station after being threatened by a mob. Returning home on the morning of March 27, a crowd threatened to hang him but was dispersed by the police. Later he was severely beaten and was again taken to the police station for his own safety. Another member of the jury, Charles Dollahan, was pelted with rotten eggs and dared not return home. Louis Havemeyer was told he was fired when he went to work. A crowd tore the blinds from the house of L Phillips in Liberty street, and threw dead cats and rotten eggs through the windows before discovering they had the wrong Phillips, not a member of the jury. The foreman of the jury, AF Shaw, had gone into hiding.