Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1910 — RIOT IN INDIANAPOLIS [ARTICLE]

RIOT IN INDIANAPOLIS

Eight Men Seriously Hurt in Fight Following Dispute. Trouble Caused by Negro’s Vote Being Challenged in Sixth Ward— Police Restore Peace. Indianapolis, Nov. 9. The polling place of the fourth precict in the Sixth ward was the scene of a riot in which a dozen men were knocked down and some of them very seriously hurt. The precinct Is heavily Republican and most of the voters are negroes. When the polls opened a hundred negroes were standing around ready to vote. An old colored man, who, the Republicans said, had lived In the precinct for a score of years, was challenged by the Democrats, and as there are a thousand votes in tbe precinct the Republicans charged the challenge was made to delay voting. Words led to blows and soon a general fight was in progress. Men were knocked off the sidewalk and trampled in the gutter by the struggling negroes and whites, while the peaceably disposed tried fn vain to stop the fight. The Republicans were greatly in the majority and the Democrats were driven from the polls. A riot call was followed by the arrival of a squad of police and the Republican and Democratic challengers and a Democratc worker were taken to the police station. Eight men were so badly hurt in the melee that they had to go or to taken to their homes.