Sworn to before me this 13th day of September, 1900.
FRANK MOSS, Notary Public, N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
John L. Newman, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I reside at No. 351 West 37th Street, in the rear house. On August
15th, 1900, I went to the restaurant which is in the front building,
for supper. This was about 10:30 P. M. After I had been there
a few minutes some one told me that the mob was coming. I had seen
them beat colored people during the evening, without any cause, so
I walked out of the restaurant into my apartments, which are in the
rear, only a few steps away; I live in the basement floor. I did this
so as to avoid any trouble. As I reached the front door and walked in
I closed it, and proceeded to go into my apartments. Four officers
immediately came, and one of them said, "Stop!" and kicked open the
door. Then one of them grabbed me and said, "Here is a d----d nigger;
kill him!" The four officers then beat me with their clubs until I
became unconscious. They then carried me to the station house. I was
unconscious during all this time, but my friends tell me that the
police were beating me all the way to the station house. It is located
one block west from where I live. At the station house I recovered my
consciousness. I was arraigned before the sergeant, and the officer
who struck me first made the complaint against me. At the sergeant's
desk I felt very weak, bleeding from my head and eye, and I held on
to the railing for support. One of the officers struck me in the ribs
with a night stick, and said, "God d--n you, stand up there!" I fell
forward on the sergeant's desk, and I said, "For God's sake, take a
gun and blow out my brains! If you have got to take a life, take mine,
and don't murder me this way!" The sergeant then said very gruffly to
the officer, "Take him away!" While all this was going on Chief of
Police Devery was in the station house standing about ten feet away,
talking to somebody whom I did not know. He saw all this, but did not
interfere, conversing with the man all the time, as if nothing unusual
was going on. I have known Chief Devery for three or four years, and
have spoken with him in a friendly way many times. When I was brought
into the muster room, in the rear of the station house, I saw several
colored people being treated for their wounds. I was bleeding from
my head and eye, and could not see well, and I sat down in the wrong
chair. Two policemen then came over to me, pulled me out of the chair,
and were raising their clubs to strike me when some one said, "Don't
hit this man any more," and they obeyed. My wounds were then dressed,
and I was taken to a cell. About twelve o'clock, when the officer
who was making the prison rounds came to my cell, I asked him for
permission to see the sergeant. He asked why, and I told him that my
house was unlocked, and that I wished he would send an officer to lock
it. He said he would speak to the sergeant about it. In a few minutes
he returned and said, "The sergeant said, 'D--n him,' and that 'he had
no business with the house,'" and he did not send anyone to lock it and
protect my property. While I was in the station house I saw a colored
man, John Haines, struck by several officers with their clubs. He was
naked, only wearing a little undershirt. The officers were striking all
the colored men in the station house, and without any interference.
In court, the next morning, I was arraigned before Judge Cornell. The
officer swore that I was causing a riot in the street, I denied this.
I did not have any witnesses in court, because I did not have any
opportunity to produce them. The Judge did not ask me whether I wanted
an examination or not, and expressed his doubts as to my guilt, and
said the case was "very curious." But the officers were persistent in
their false statements, aforesaid, and the magistrate put me under $100
bonds to keep the peace. Not being able to furnish this, I was sent to
the Penitentiary, where I was for thirty days. I was treated at the
Penitentiary by Dr. Thomas Higgins, who told me that my head would
never be right as long as I lived. I have been sick ever since. Dr.
Higgins told me that he would testify for me in any proceeding which
I might institute. I am employed by the Metropolitan Street Railway
Company as a rockman, but am unable to work at present. I have lived in
New York City for over forty-three years, and have never been arrested
before in my life. I did not participate in the riots, was not on the
street, and did nothing whatever to justify this conduct on the part of
the police. I can recognize the officer who made the charge against me;
he was the first to strike me.