MOB VIOLENCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 August 1946, Page 5

MOB VIOLENCE

ELECTION DAY RIOTS DEATHS IN TENNESSEE GUN BATTLE ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD NEW~YORK, Aug. 2. Two men were reported to have been killed and at least 22 wounded in a gun battle between' a crowd estimated at 1000 and election officials at the county gaol in McMinn, Tennessee.

Violence flared up in the Monroe and McMinn counties, where former servicemen’s tickets opposed Democratic incumbents for county offices in the primary elections. Ballot boxes from two polling places in Athens, the capital of the McMinn county, were removed to the county gaol, and the crowd, which used pistols and light .‘rifles, exchanged volley after volley with the gaol’s defenders, who later, telephoned an appeal for help. War Veterans’ Action.

Eye-witnesses of an incident in which two war . veterans broke through the glass door of'a polling place to complain about the methods of vote counting, said that a deputy sheriff levelled a pistol at the two men. A crowd then assembled and gunfire broke out. The gunfire capped a series of hectic events which marked the Teninessee primary elections, in which Senator K. D. McKellar apparently won his sixth term of nomination against his challenger, Mr. E. W. Carmack, who to-night refused to concede the victory to McKellar in spite of the deficiency in the votes already counted. Mr. Carmack said that there had been “many indications of fraud” in the campaign and added that his .fight against “dictators” had only just begun. A journalist in Athens reported that former servicemen told him to leave the city to escape being killed, after he had discovered that they were planning to storm the county gaol. According to one broadcast from Athens, all women were ordered off the streets. Gunfire could be heard during the broadcast. The sheriff at the county gaol, interviewed by telephone, said that 200 to 300 shots had been fired. The conversation was broken off when the sheriff said: “Things are too hot to talk now. There’s mob violence at the gaol right now.” Supporters of the former servicemen’s ticket were seen to break out of one polling booth, after which police officials removed a ballot box. Soon afterwards seven policemen were disarmed by a crowd of former servicemen and their supporters. They were beaten, hustled into a car, and driven from the city. A message from the Monroe County said that one man was shot dead outside a polling booth and others were admitted to hospital with knife wounds.

Troops Called Out. The State Adjutant-General (Mr. Hilton Butler) announced at midnight that he was mdbilising the 6th Regiment of the State Guard. He said that he did not know where the troops would be sent or what they would do, but he would see the State Governor about that. Mr. Butlei said that he talked to a State Guard officer at the McMinn county gaol, who called his attention to shots which could be heard over the telephone. Then another shot apparently severed the connection. “Right then I decided to quit investigating and start moving,” he added. Elements of the Middle Tennessee Brigade of the Home Guard were mobilised and would move into Athens at the same time as the bth Regiment, said Mr. Butler. “I am not going in there without enough troops to restore order.” The State Governor (Mr. J. M. McCord) rushed to the State capital, Nashville,- after he received news of the violence, but said he had made no plans to send troops to McMinn county unless they were requested. ELECTION CLAIMED BY WAR VETERANS (Reed 12.10 p.m.) NEW YORK, August 2. Veterans recovered the ballot boxes from the gaol. Their spokesman said: “The G.l.’s are elected and will serve eft youi’ county officials beginning on September 1.” He added that the report that two were killed inside the gaol, which was given from a telephone within the building, was untrue.