Lamar Smith Courthouse Daylight Lynching

On August 13, 1955, 63-year-old farmer, World War I veteran, and civil rights activist Lamar Smith stood outside the Lincoln County courthouse in Brookhaven, Mississippi, helping Black voters with absentee ballots. A white man shot Smith in the head in broad daylight, and blood reportedly spattered on the courthouse steps as more than 30 people, including the local sheriff, witnessed the attack.

Despite the crowd of onlookers and the identification of suspects, no witness agreed to testify in court. A grand jury refused to indict anyone, and Smith's murder went unpunished.

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