group of angry White men to attacked People's grocery; but the owners fought back, shooting one of the attackers. The White men turned out to be plain clothes sheriff deputies. The owners of People's Grocery were arrested and while in jail a few days later a lynch-mob broke into the jail, dragged them away from town, and brutally murdered all three grocery store owners. Outrage by the lynching of the three black men, Wells wrote, lynching “was an excuse to get Negros who were acquiring wealth and property, and thus keep the race terrorized and keep the nigger down.” (A Passion for Justice, 29:55). It was the lynching of Moss, Stewart, and McDowell that sparked the first national anti-lynching campaign for Wells.
With the help of others, Wells
With the help of others, Wells