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Lynching of John Cecil Jones
John Cecil Jones (July 9, 1915 – August 8, 1946) was a United States Army corporal and World War II veteran who was tortured and lynched near Minden, in Webster Parish, Louisiana by a mob in 1946. His 17-year-old cousin Albert Harris Jr. was tortured and left for dead alongside Jones. This was the only known post-World War II lynching to occur in Louisiana, and it involved multiple well-known local individuals, politicians, and a cover-up by multiple law enforcement entities.
On the night of July 30, 1946, a pregnant woman complained to her husband that she had been startled by a prowler in their yard.[citation needed]
The next day, the husband looked around his yard and found that a window screen had been tampered with, along with some grass and a portion of the fence that surrounded the yard. He looked to the neighboring house and saw Albert Harris Jr. holding a stick and sitting on the front porch. The husband talked to his father, and ultimately two civilians and two Webster Parish Sheriff's Deputies went to the Harris house and arrested Albert Jr. He was held in jail for a few days without charge and released by Webster Parish Deputy Sheriff O.H. Haynes Jr. in Dixie Inn to a mob.
The mob took Albert Jr. to a field in rural Webster Parish, tied him upside down to a pipe, covered his head, and at gunpoint, they forced him by way of multiple beatings to implicate his cousin (Jones) as an accomplice in the alleged prowling. After Albert Jr. was released by the mob, his parents sent him out of the state. On August 3, 1946, two deputies, including Haynes, went to the Harris' house to procure Albert Jr.
One of the deputies smashed Albert Harris, Sr.'s jaw and told him to bring Albert Jr. back into custody. Albert Jr. was returned to the sheriff's custody August 4. Jones had been arrested on August 3 in connection with the matter. While both men were in jail, they were questioned by the husband's father and deputies. They were also beaten by deputies. They were held several days without charge.
On the night of August 8, 1946, both men were released by Deputy Sheriff O.H. Haynes Jr. to a mob in front of the jail. Almost immediately upon release, Jones understood what was happening and began to protest, but he was hit over the head with the butt of a gun, knocking him unconscious and limp. He had to be carried under the arms and loaded into one of the mob's two idling cars. They were driven outside of Minden to a private pond, where they were tortured and mutilated with clubs, sticks, strops, and a blowtorch.
Despite the violence, Albert Jr. had not been done in, and he awoke to the cries and moans of his cousin. Jones asked Albert to get him some water, and to take care of his German pistol that he had brought back from Germany. Jones died in Albert's arms after about 5 minutes. Albert walked for miles into Minden, hiding from passing cars. When stopped by a Minden Police car, the officers obviously had been apprised of what had happened because they asked him where the "other boy was." Albert went to a family member's house in Minden, and ultimately escaped to Chicago and then Detroit.
On August 9, the Webster Parish Coroner, Dr. Richardson, was notified that some fishermen had found a body on a private pond. Louisiana NAACP officials became aware of the lynching and investigated. The Louisiana NAACP officials had not been exposed to depravity of this nature, as they would soon discover. During the NAACP investigation, a Minden embalmer told them that "Jones had been burned about the face and body with a blowtorch, that he was mutilated and that his wrists were gouged out with a cleaver and that his eyeballs had popped out of his skull."
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Lynching of John Cecil Jones
John Cecil Jones (July 9, 1915 – August 8, 1946) was a United States Army corporal and World War II veteran who was tortured and lynched near Minden, in Webster Parish, Louisiana by a mob in 1946. His 17-year-old cousin Albert Harris Jr. was tortured and left for dead alongside Jones. This was the only known post-World War II lynching to occur in Louisiana, and it involved multiple well-known local individuals, politicians, and a cover-up by multiple law enforcement entities.
On the night of July 30, 1946, a pregnant woman complained to her husband that she had been startled by a prowler in their yard.[citation needed]
The next day, the husband looked around his yard and found that a window screen had been tampered with, along with some grass and a portion of the fence that surrounded the yard. He looked to the neighboring house and saw Albert Harris Jr. holding a stick and sitting on the front porch. The husband talked to his father, and ultimately two civilians and two Webster Parish Sheriff's Deputies went to the Harris house and arrested Albert Jr. He was held in jail for a few days without charge and released by Webster Parish Deputy Sheriff O.H. Haynes Jr. in Dixie Inn to a mob.
The mob took Albert Jr. to a field in rural Webster Parish, tied him upside down to a pipe, covered his head, and at gunpoint, they forced him by way of multiple beatings to implicate his cousin (Jones) as an accomplice in the alleged prowling. After Albert Jr. was released by the mob, his parents sent him out of the state. On August 3, 1946, two deputies, including Haynes, went to the Harris' house to procure Albert Jr.
One of the deputies smashed Albert Harris, Sr.'s jaw and told him to bring Albert Jr. back into custody. Albert Jr. was returned to the sheriff's custody August 4. Jones had been arrested on August 3 in connection with the matter. While both men were in jail, they were questioned by the husband's father and deputies. They were also beaten by deputies. They were held several days without charge.
On the night of August 8, 1946, both men were released by Deputy Sheriff O.H. Haynes Jr. to a mob in front of the jail. Almost immediately upon release, Jones understood what was happening and began to protest, but he was hit over the head with the butt of a gun, knocking him unconscious and limp. He had to be carried under the arms and loaded into one of the mob's two idling cars. They were driven outside of Minden to a private pond, where they were tortured and mutilated with clubs, sticks, strops, and a blowtorch.
Despite the violence, Albert Jr. had not been done in, and he awoke to the cries and moans of his cousin. Jones asked Albert to get him some water, and to take care of his German pistol that he had brought back from Germany. Jones died in Albert's arms after about 5 minutes. Albert walked for miles into Minden, hiding from passing cars. When stopped by a Minden Police car, the officers obviously had been apprised of what had happened because they asked him where the "other boy was." Albert went to a family member's house in Minden, and ultimately escaped to Chicago and then Detroit.
On August 9, the Webster Parish Coroner, Dr. Richardson, was notified that some fishermen had found a body on a private pond. Louisiana NAACP officials became aware of the lynching and investigated. The Louisiana NAACP officials had not been exposed to depravity of this nature, as they would soon discover. During the NAACP investigation, a Minden embalmer told them that "Jones had been burned about the face and body with a blowtorch, that he was mutilated and that his wrists were gouged out with a cleaver and that his eyeballs had popped out of his skull."