Sworn to before me this 5th day of September, 1900.
FRANK MOSS, Notary Public, N. Y. County.
----
_City and County of New York, ss._:
George White, of 145 West 32nd Street, being duly sworn, deposes and
says that on Wednesday, August 15th, 1900, at half past ten P.
M., while riding on a 34th Street car, going east, he saw and
heard a crowd of boys and young men running and yelling at the car that
he was on, and that immediately after he saw three police officers
board the said car, and upon seeing deponent they grabbed him by the
arm and clubbed him over the head and arms, pulled him off the car,
and continued to club him. They then took him to the West 37th Street
station house, where his wounds were dressed by a surgeon from one of
the hospitals, who was there. Deponent further states that he is not
addicted to the use of liquor, had not been drinking on the said day,
and that he was not intoxicated at the time of the clubbing; that he
was not placed under arrest, and that he remained in the station house
until after the storm came up, or as near as he can remember about
three o'clock A. M. the next morning, by reason of being told
that there was a mob outside waiting to beat all Negroes that they
could catch. Further, that by reason of the suddenness of the attack he
did not look closely at the assailants, so as to be able to identify
them.
GEORGE x WHITE.
his mark
Sworn to before me this 28th day of August, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
----
_City and County of New York, ss._:
Charles Bennett, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I reside at No. 309 West 37th Street. On August 15th, 1900, I was
working for a man named Mr. O'Connor, who keeps a saloon at Coney
Island. I quit work at one o'clock A. M. the next day (August
16th), and started for home with a man named Wilson. We boarded an 8th
Avenue car at Warren Street and Broadway, which was going north; just
before we reached the street whereon I reside the conductor of the car
upon which we were riding told us that there had been a riot, that it
was because of the death of the police officer, and that they were
attacking every colored man that they caught. I then said that we had
better get off; the conductor then said that it was "pretty quiet" when
he came down. We got off the car at 8th Avenue and 37th Street, and at
3:30 A. M. had almost reached the front door of my home when
several police officers from among a group of about a dozen called to
me asking me where I was going. I told them, "Home here." I was then
in front of my door, and immediately after making my reply an officer
hit me with his club, knocking me down. I struggled to my feet and
endeavored to run towards 8th Avenue, but was pursued by the officers
and knocked down again at the corner of 8th Avenue and 36th Street. It
was raining very hard at the time, and they threw me into the gutter,
which was full of rain water; they kept my head in the water until I
strangled, when they let up, jumped on me, and pushed me back again
into the gutter. After a while they called a patrol wagon, into which
they threw me, and beat me all the way to the station house in 37th
Street. Upon my arrival there my head had been cut open; I was covered
with blood and bruises from the beating and clubbing I had received.
While in the station house I told Captain Cooney that I had been
clubbed by policemen. I remained in the station house for about half
an hour, and while there I heard a man who was dressed in citizen's
clothes say to the officers present, "Club every d----d nigger you see;
kill them; shoot them; be brave, the same as I was." The man answered,
"All right; will you stick to us?" He answered, "Yes, I'll stand by
you." I heard this man called Thompson by some of the officers. He
went among the colored men who were present and who were in almost as
bad condition as I was, asking their names, where they had lived, and
what they had been doing. After receiving their answers he said to each
of them, "Get ter h--l home out of here; they'd ought ter have killed
yer!" When he came to me he said, "What's your name?" I told him; then
he said, "What were you doing?" I said, "I just come from work at Coney
Island." He exclaimed, "Coney Island, eh! That's a d----d nice place to
be working. Where do you live?" I told him, when he said, "Another nice
place right in my district, the worst block in the whole district." He
did not tell me to get out, but I was shortly after taken to Roosevelt
Hospital and from there to Bellevue Hospital, where I remained a week,
when I was taken to 54th Street Court, where I had a hearing and was
discharged on August 28th, 1900. While I was being clubbed in the
street one of the officers said, "Search him," whereupon they stopped
the clubbing long enough to search my pockets and take fourteen dollars
in bills from me, which I had in my hip pocket of my trousers. I have
never had the said money returned to me. While I was in the station
house Captain Cooney was there, but not in uniform, and the aforesaid
man whom they called Thompson was giving orders to the men, in the
presence of Captain Cooney. At the time that I had reached my home on
the said night there was no disturbance in the neighborhood, and there
was but one man in sight, and he was chased away by the officers.
Everything was quiet in the neighborhood, and on the way uptown on the
car I saw no signs of a disturbance, and would not have known anything
about there having been anything of the kind if I had not been informed
by the car conductor. I can identify two of the officers who took part
in the clubbing, one of whom was dressed in citizen's clothes, and who,
I think, was one of the wardmen attached to that precinct. (The witness
subsequently identified Officer Herman Ohm.) Deponent further states
that he has resided in the City of New York for the past fifteen years,
and has never been arrested before in his life, and has always been a
quiet, law-abiding citizen.
CHARLES x BENNETT.
his mark
Sworn to before me this 31st day of August, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
----
_City and County of New York, ss._:
James Joseph Lockett, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I reside at No. 323 West 37th Street, in the Borough of Manhattan. I
am a cigar maker, and am employed by Gahio & Roverie, on East 37th
Street. On Wednesday, August 15th, 1900, at about eight P. M.,
accompanied by my wife, I called at the residence of Thomas H. McGuire,
a friend of mine who resides at No. 410 West 36th Street, where we
remained until about 11:15 P. M. We walked east on 36th Street
to 8th Avenue, where we met four police officers in uniform on the
northwest corner. We passed them and turned into 8th Avenue, walking on
the west side of the avenue, towards 37th Street. We had not gone over
fifty feet when the officers ran after us and beat us with their clubs.
One of the officers said to me. "You black son of a b----, you have a
knife!" and struck me on the head with a club several times, and then
led us to the station house. There we were searched by the officer, who
took eleven dollars in money--two two-dollar bills, one five-dollar
bill, and two one-dollar bills--one rent receipt for thirteen dollars
and fifty cents for August, signed by Herbert Peck & Co., none of
which has been returned to me. The sergeant, in uniform, was behind
the desk, and the roundsman made the entry. I was charged with being
drunk and carrying a knife. My head was bleeding profusely from the
wounds inflicted by the police officers, and the police surgeon at the
station house had to dress them. After this I was placed in a cell. The
next morning I was arraigned in the Magistrates' Court on West 54th
Street. The officer swore that I was drunk and disorderly and carried
a knife. The magistrate held me in $500 bail, and I was bailed by Mr.
Garner. I was not drunk on the occasion in question. I had drunk three,
and positively not more than four, glasses of beer at Mr. McGuire's
house. I did nothing which would justify this conduct on the part of
the police officers. On August 23rd an officer called at my house. He
said he was generally known as "Bootsey," and was sent by the Captain
to obtain a statement from me, which I gave him. He was in citizen's
clothes. He called again on August 24th, and said that Captain Cooney
wanted to see me at the station house. I did not go to see him.