Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8—MAY. 1963—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Text of Mississippi’s
Charges Against U, S.
Marshak
Following is the text of the first
section of a report issued on April
24 by the General Legislative In
vestigating Committee in Mississippi
concerning “occupation of the cam
pus of the University of Mississippi
and the events resulting therefrom.”
The report was directed to the gover
nor and to the membership of the
legislature. It was titled, “Operation
Rapid Road.”
The Protection of Civil Rights By
The Department of Justice
The occupation of the campus of
the University of Mississippi on Sep
tember 30, 1962, (which was officially
designated OPERATION RAPID
ROAD by the federal authorities),
was upon direct orders of Attorney
General Robert F. Kennedy, under
the personal supervision of Deputy
Attorney General Nicholas de B. Katz-
enbach, assisted by Mr. Ed Guthman,
Publicity Director for the Department
of Justice, Chief United States Mar
shal James McShane, Mr. John Doar,
Mr. Norbert Schlei, and other members
of the staff of the Department of Jus
tice. This line of command was sup
ported by 97 penitentiary guards, 336
border patrolmen and 123 deputy mar
shals, all of whom are said to have
been deputized for the occasion as
deputy marshals. The events which
occurred cannot be understood unless
the actual conduct of the personnel
utilized is considered to comprehend
their nature and their complete lack of
training and experience. A pattern of
treatment of students and other citizens
was followed from and including the
first firing of gas, through the evening
of Sunday, September 30, during the
day and evening of Monday, October
1, and subsequent thereto. This pattern
is best understood when considered in
three categories:
1. The treatment accorded on Mon
day night and Tuesday to citizens de
tained in a garage adjoining the Soil
Sedimentation Laboratory near the
campus used as a detention stockade.
Up to 100 people at one time were
confined therein. At that time violence
had ceased and the entire area was
under complete control of the mar
shals and the military.
2. The treatment accorded students
and other citizens after they had been
seized on the campus of the University
of Mississippi and taken into the Ly
ceum Building Sunday night and Mon
day, where they were confined in a
basement 17 feet by 40 feet (at times
heavily contaminated with gas) in
numbers up to more than 85 at one
time.
3. The treatment of students on Mon
day morning after order had been re
stored and all violence had ceased,
when they were taken into custody on
the campus of the University on the
way to class rooms, University build
ings or passing through the campus.
The treatment of University officials,
campus policemen, highway patrolmen
and students upon the University cam
pus on the evening of Sunday, Septem
ber 30, and the early morning of Mon
day, October 1, is discussed in another
section of this report. Treatment of
citizens in the vicinity of the University
on October 2 is also discussed in
another section of this report.
In an attempt to give a clear picture
of the treatment of students and other
citizens by the Department of Justice
of the United States and its representa
tives, the Committee will first give the
pattern of treatment followed in each
of the three categories, followed by
some of the individual instances illus
trative of such pattern. Space will not
permit the recitation of all such in
cidents. The general nature and type
of treatment of those who were seized
and taken into custody is supported by
the sworn testimony of six or more
witnesses. The treatment of individuals
while incarcerated in the basement of
the Lyceum Building and in the garage
of the Soil Conservation Service and
the treatment of individual students
and other citizens before they were in
carcerated in either of the places of
detention are supported by the sworn
testimony of two or more witnesses,
with the exception of a few instances in
which the sworn testimony of only one
witness was available. General refer
ence to “marshals” includes penitenti
ary guards and border patrolmen acting
as deputy marshals.
1. Treatment of students and other
citizens in the Soil Sedimentation ga
rage Monday night and Tuesday, after
the entire area was under control of
the marshals and the military and all
disturbances had ceased.
Order was restored on the campus
before 7:00 a.m., Monday, October 1.
After 5:30 pun. on Monday the Justice
Department set up a stockade or place
of imprisonment in a garage adjacent
to the Soil Sedimentation Laboratory.
The garage had a concrete floor, one
end was open to the weather. It was
not equipped with lights. Marshals
were placed in charge of this place of
detention and Chief Marshal McShane
visited this spot several times. To this
place of imprisonment there were
taken between 100 and 150 persons.
Some were transferred to this garage
from the basement of the Lyceum
Building, being told by the marshals
they were to be taken to where bunks
and food would be provided. Others
were brought there after being seized
on Monday or Tuesday by either mar
shals or members of the military forces.
All disturbances had ceased before any
persons were imprisoned in this garage.
The persons seized varied in age from
14 or 15 years old to more than 60
years of age.
Some had been badly beaten, others
were ill. All persons, regardless of age
or physical condition, were forced to
sit on the concrete slab for periods up
to 20 hours, with their knees drawn
up toward their chins, their hands
clasped around their knees, their eyes
to the front, without turning their
heads or speaking to anyone. This was
planned and executed as physical tor
ture.
During the night of Monday, October
1, the marshals on duty changed shifts
every two hours. During the entire
night the marshals walked up and down
between the rows of prisoners in pairs
throwing flashlight beams upon them
to prevent them from going to sleep or
obtaining any rest. When a prisoner
moved his head from a direct front
angle or spoke to any other person
and was observed by a marshal, he was
either clubbed or kicked by the “mar
shals.”
If a captive fell asleep or became
cramped and moved his hands from
around his knees, or changed the posi
tion of his legs as he was seated upon
the torture slab, and was seen by the
“marshals,” he was struck with a club
or kicked, and threatened with further
beatings.
Some prisoners who fell asleep or
changed positions were forced to place
their hands above their heads, leaning
tip-toe with their faces to the wall;
then they were beaten, jabbed in the
back and their feet kicked out from
under them. Others were jabbed in
the kidney or the groin with the mar
shals’ clubs.
Wedding Party
Several young boys between 12 and
15 years of age, some older men and
members of a wedding party dressed
in wedding attire, as well as disabled
veterans of World War II were thus
treated.
Medicine required by one or more
captives was confiscated. A disabled
veteran begged the marshals for his
medicine (required to prevent jerking
and blackout spells and they refused
to give it to him. When he suffered
from one such spell for lack of medi
cine, he was clubbed and manhandled.
Persons thus incarcerated, who ap
peared before this Committee, were
denied the right to make any telephone
call or contact any person and were
given no food until they were inter
rogated by FBI agents, between two
o’clock and five o’clock Tuesday after
noon.
A few of the individual instances of
mistreatment by the marshals in the
garage are as follows:
(a) An 18-year-old boy went to
sleep. A marshal pulled him up, hit
him on the forehead with a club, two
other marshals joined them, pushed the
boy against the wall, struck him in
the throat and jabbed him in the groin
with clubs.
(b) A captive’s hands became cramp
ed and one of his hands dropped off
his knees. One marshal hit him across
the back with a club and another
jabbed him in the kidney.
(c) A young boy went to sleep. He
was first beaten on the floor by the
marshals, then they stood him up
against the wall and beat him some
more, and when his father protested,
he was also beaten.
(d) A sophomore, after having been
held in the Lyceum Building all night,
had been beaten about the body and
beaten so badly on the head that six
teen stitches were taken in the wound.
After being released, he was again
seized and taken to the garage. When,
through loss of blood and exhaustion,
he was unable to maintain the re
quired position on the torture slab, he
was twice clubbed on the back by the
marshals.
(e) One prisoner who was ill begged
for his medicine and was refused, and
he passed out twice and each time the
marshals kicked him in the mouth and
forced him to sit back in the required
position.
(f) A disabled veteran had a pain
in his knee so that he could not bend
it up under his chin. The marshals
changed shifts every two hours. Several
times he was clubbed on his leg by
marshals when they saw it extended
in the row.
(g) Several prisoners who failed to
maintain the prescribed position on the
torture slab were forced to stand with
their faces to the walls, hands above
their heads, on their toes, and the mar
shals kicked their feet from under them
so they fell on their faces on the con
crete.
2. Treatment by marshals of students
and other citizens in the Lyceum base
ment on Sunday night and Monday.
During the night of September 30
and the day of October 1, students and
other persons seized were taken to the
basement of the Lyceum Building on
the campus of the University. At one
time between 100 and 150 captives
were crowded into this room 17 feet by
40 feet in size. The marshals wore gas
masks but none were given to the cap
tives, who suffered severely from the
presence of tear gas during a large
portion of the time they were held in
this basement. Prisoners were held in
this basement up to as much as 18
hours, through the night of the 30th
and the day of October 1, and some
were then transferred to the Soil Sedi
mentation garage and handled there as
outlined elsewhere in this report.
Prisoners, who were bleeding after
having been badly beaten and in need
of medical treatment, were held for
as much as six hours without being
given any medical attention. Requests
to use the telephone, to be permitted
to go to the toilet, or to call a lawyer,
were frequently met with either being
knocked to the floor with fists or hit
with billies. Later captives were per
mitted to go to the toilet and upon
demand of the University authorities,
to use the telephone. While some of
the prisoners were permitted to
sleep sitting on the floor, others were
kicked by the marshals when they
went to sleep. Some of the students
taken to the Lyceum basement were
forced to stand on tip-toe leaning
against the wall with their backs to
the marshals, and then were either
jabbed in the back or their legs were
kicked out from under them after
having been struck on the legs with
clubs. A number of students, as they
were taken down to the Lyceum base
ment, were either hit on the shins or
back with the butts of the marshals’
sidearms and with their clubs. Students
were spit upon and repeatedly cursed
by the “marshals.” From time to time
at the end of the hall leading to the
basement the students were struck
severely on the shins, jabbed or hit on
back with night sticks or kicked on
the legs.
Instances
A few of the instances of mistreat
ment by marshals in the Lyceum base
ment are as follows:
(a) A University freshman, after be
ing clubbed across the back of the
neck with a billy, was kicked a num
ber of times by the marshals.
(b) One of the prisoners found a
Text of Government’s Answer
The following statement was made
on April 24 by the U.S. Department
of Justice in reply to a report issued
that day by a Mississippi legislative
committee.
The report of the General Legislative
Investigating Committee of Mississippi
is so far from the truth that it hardly
merits an answer.
It is strange indeed that none of the
so-called brutalities were reported by
the several hundred newsmen, includ
ing many from Southern newspapers,
radio and television stations, who wit
nessed the riot and its aftermath. These
newsmen were in the Lyceum Building
throughout the riot. They were outside
observing the mob. The newsmen were
free to go where they wished. And
rather than criticize the marshals, the
newsmen praised the marshals’ courage
and calmness under fire.
About 350 deputy U.S. marshals were
on duty around the Lyceum Building
during the riot. Of these, 180 were in
jured and of that number, 27 were
wounded by gunfire. The discipline and
training of the marshals was exempli
fied by the fact that they did not return
this fire.
Student Activities
During the riot, the students and
adults who joined the mob drove a
bulldozer, a fire engine, and an auto
mobile full speed toward the line of
marshals in front of the Lyceum Build
ing. The marshals captured about 30
youths and adults who were attacking
them with gunfire, bricks, bottles, rocks,
acid, pipes and Molotov cocktails. These
prisoners were held under guard in a
basement room in the Lyceum Build
ing because there was no place else to
put them. The conditions were not the
best, but were not nearly so bad as
those the marshals had to undergo.
Many of the marshals went without
food and sleep far longer than any of
the prisoners.
Members of the mob attacked the
soldiers of the National Guard and the
Regular Army as they arrived on the
scene and a number were injured, in
cluding Captain Murray Falkner of the
Mississippi National Guard. Many of
these rioters were taken into custody
and during the following day, the mar
shals and soldiers apprehended other
persons who were converging on the
Oxford area, heavily armed.
In all, about 300 persons were taken
into custody, ranging in age from 14 to
57. The adults came from as far away
as Los Angeles, California and Decatur,
Georgia. A large number of shotguns,
high-powered rifles, knives, blackjacks,
clubs and other weapons were tempor
arily taken from these persons.
Prisoners Removed
On October 1, the prisoners were re
moved from the Lyceum Building to
the airport. Some were kept in a ga
rage building. By the afternoon of Oc
tober 2, all but a handful had been
released.
Before being released, the prisoners
were questioned by agents of the Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation and com
plaints were filed against 13 men. Four
of these subsequently were indicted by
a federal grand jury of Mississippians
on charges of interfering with U.S.
Marshals in the performance of their
duties and obstructing orders of the
United States courts.
The report of this committee contains
no names or facts that could be checked
by anyone. The report is an untruthful
document.
Worse, it is a grievous slander
against a courageous group of deputy
marshals, more than two-thirds of
whom are Southerners. Far from de
serving such distortions and falsifica
tions of fact, they deserve the greatest
credit for their courage and dedication
to their orders and to the laws of the
United States. Their conduct, in a time
of great danger, was in the highest
tradition of American law enforcement.
“Incidents Manufactured’
If right and justice are on the side
of the committee as it claims, then it
is shocking to us that facts would be
distorted or ignored and incidents
manufactured. The fact that the com
mittee did not interview any objective
observers who were there, much less
the federal officials involved, is an in
dication of the accuracy and fairness of
this report.
The marshals went to Mississippi to
uphold the orders of the federal courts.
There was interference with the orders
of the courts, and if there had not been,
the marshals would not have been
there. No marshals were sent to Clem-
son University in South Carolina last
February.
It appears to us that this committee
might do some self-examination. There
is going to be very little possibility for
progress and understanding among all
of us as a people in this difficult field
if responsible local officials put their
heads in the sand and manufacture
rather than face the facts.
spot where he could lie down and sl^
in the crowded basement, and he
kicked in the stomach by a marshy
(c) A boy who had been bad]-
beaten about the head and was bleed!
ing from the head asked for water ^
when he went to the water founts
and bent over to drink, the marshal,
grabbed him by the hair and shovel
his head in the fountain, although ^
was bleeding from the head at 4
time.
(d) A student approached a marshal
and asked to be permitted to call,
lawyer and the marshal slugged him it
the face with his fist and knocked hit
to his knees.
(e) A student asked a marshal to
be permitted to use the telephone, ani 1
he was hit by the marshal with a cliil
and knocked to the floor.
(f) One of the students went to ;
marshal at the door of the basemeni
and while he was talking to hint
another marshal came up and they both
grabbed the student and beat him with
their fists.
(g) While a freshman was standing
in the hall of the Lyceum Building jj
custody, a marshal walked by and told
him he did not like the way he was
holding his feet, and when he did not
move quickly enough, the marshal
cursed him, struck him a severe bio*
with his club across the knee knocking :
him to the floor.
(h) A boy who had been shot in the
face with a tear gas bomb, resulting
in both eyes being badly swollen and
bleeding, who also had been beaten,
repeatedly asked for a doctor and was
refused medical attention for a number
of hours.
(i) A student who was placed in a
bus called to some friends to ask them
to get him help. Two marshals struck
him on the arm with their clubs, and
later when he asked to be permitted
to make a telephone call, he was again
hit by a marshal with a club.
3. Treatment of students on the cam
pus Monday morning.
On Monday morning, after order had
been restored on the campus and in its
vicinity, the campus remained in full
control of the marshals. Members of
the military forces participated with
the marshals in seizing students and
other citizens. The pattern of treat
ment included forcing students goinl
from their dormitories to classes to lie
spread eagle on the ground with faces
in the dirt while they were searched
at gunpoint.
Students passing along the campus
to go to classes were treated as the
junior going to his thermodynamics
class in the Engineering Building who
made a remark to several deputy mar
shals concerning the mess the campus
was in. He was seized by two marshals
his arms were twisted behind his ba ■
he was hit in the back with a bill!
cursed, taken to the Lyceum basem®"
and, as he walked toward the basej
ment, a marshal on each side kk ,
him in the shins. A billy was fo ^
between his legs and he was stm
on the testicles.
Students were beaten or jabbed
night sticks or billies. Students
were seized on Monday, after
taken to the Lyceum Building, ^
forced to lean forward against the ^
with their hands over their hea ^
the wall and then their feet kick
from under them. They were W
clubs on their shins and ankle ^
Students from other schools
found asleep on the campus to
early morning, were hit on their
backs or heads with billies. One ^
awakened, forced to stand wit ^
legs spread apart, clubbed on
inside and outside of his l e & s '^
struck in his crotch and in his
The above general patterns o
duct occurred after the ^ en \ arS b»b
guards, border patrolmen and
had taken students and other a ^ jyC e
into custody, or after all ftp
had been quieted on the campu 3
University of Mississippi-
MISSISSIPPI GENERAL
TIVE INVESTIGATING
legis^;
CO
ive Russell L. Fox,
>rge M. Yarbrough, *
nk D. Barber, Secret
ive W. L. Sims