An editorial in the New York Times called the victims “desperate ruffians and murderers.
But many Americans, swept up on a tide of anti-immigrant sentiment, applauded the killings. The act of vigilante justice was decried by the Italian government, which demanded the lynch mob be punished. Some corpses were hung what remained of others were torn apart and plundered for souvenirs. Outside the jail, the larger mob cheered as the mutilated bodies were displayed. Eleven men’s bodies were riddled with bullets and torn apart by the crowd. Finally, the mob broke into the city’s arsenal, grabbing guns and ammunition.Ī smaller group of armed men stormed the prison, grabbing not just the men who had been acquitted or given a mistrial, but several who had not been tried or accused in the crimes. Impassioned speakers whipped the mob into a frenzy, painting Italian immigrants as criminals who needed to be driven out of the city. In response, thousands of angry residents gathered near the jail. “Alien hands of oath-bound assassins have set the blot of a martyr’s blood upon your vaunted civilization.” The message was clear: If the New Orleans justice system couldn’t punish Italians, the people of New Orleans would have to do so instead. “Rise, people of New Orleans!” wrote the Daily States newspaper.
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They assumed that the Mafia had somehow influenced jurors or fixed the trial and that justice had not been served. When news spread that the trial had resulted in six not-guilty convictions and three mistrials, the city went wild.
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But he had other enemies, too: As chief of police, he made a series of unpopular decisions to consolidate the force, and helped collect taxes on brothels and gambling houses.ġ1 Italian Americans were held liable by lynching for the killing of David C. Hennessy kept close watch over the Matrangas and earned their enmity when he helped capture and deport a crime boss the family defended. They were also suspected of Mafia connections, and their family networks were closely watched by the New Orleans police.Īt the time of Hennessy’s murder, a feud had broken out between two Sicilian families, the Provenzanos and the Matrangas. Because of their dark skin, they were often treated with the same contempt as Black people. “Sicilians were viewed by many Americans as culturally backward and racially suspect,” writes historian Manfred Berg. Though Italians had been living in New Orleans since before the Louisiana Purchase, their language and customs were considered foreign and even dangerous by some. These immigrants were hardworking and religious, but they were not welcomed by New Orleans residents.
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