Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1920 — MOB STORMS CAPITAL JAIL [ARTICLE]

MOB STORMS CAPITAL JAIL

POLICE THWART ATTEMPT TO . TAKE NEGRO'SLAYER OF SMALL GIRL. Indianapolis, April 22.—One negro was shot and fifteen men arrested in the attempt of a mob of 2,000 men to take Wm. Ray, colored, 19 years old, from the Marion county jail tonight, where he is held without bond for the murder of 14-year-old Martha Huff, a white girl. Leon Harris, colored, was struck* in the neck and left leg, when he wa» pursued for several blocks through the city streets by a crowd of approximately 500 white men. Ten shots were fired. He was taken to the city hospital. His condition is not serious. John J. Gray, 39 years old, Louisville, Ky., was arrested for carrying concealed weapons and shooting within the city limits. The police say he shot at Harris. Fourteen ‘men were arrested for disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. Mob Formed Early. The mob began forming early in the evening and when a crowd estimated at 500 men marched down West Washington street at 8:30 o’clock an attempt was made to reach the jail, which was guarded by a large force of police officers armed with riot clubs. Most of the men were froip the neighborhood in which the Huff girl lived. The police dispersed the mob, but it was not until after midnight that the majority of the men left the scene. Lack of leadership is believed to be the reason no concerted attack.was made on the jail. After Negro Rapist. William Ray, for -whom ' the mob is believed to be seeking, came to Indianapolis from Chicago about three weeks ago and has been employed in this city. He is 19 years old and married. The crime for which he is held without bond was committed late Monday afternoon. He is said to have made a written statement in which he told hoW he enticed the girl from her home with the promise of new clothes and took her to a lonely spot on the banks pf Eagle creek west of the city. In the alleged confession he said she screamed when he attempted to embrace her and that he stabbed her thirteen times in the neck to silence her. Later he threw her body m the swollen waters of the stream. The body was found Tuesday evening and a long search for the negro who committed the crime resulted in the arrest shortly after midnight Wednesday morning of Ray. A bloody pen knife was found in his pocket. He was positively identified as the man who enticed the Huff girl from her home by her step-sister.