William Brown
William Brown, a 40-year-old Black laborer, was held in the Douglas County jail in Omaha, Nebraska. According to a 2021 KMTV report, on September 28, 1919, a crowd of hundreds set fire to the courthouse, took him from the jail while local law enforcement looked on, beat and hanged him, then shot his body, dragged it through the streets and burned it. A separate 1919 newspaper account dates his death to September 29, says a mob strung him to a pole and dragged his body before hanging it from a trolley pole, and reports that federal troops arrived to disperse the crowd. Neither source says whether jail officers resisted the mob or gave up the keys. A historical marker unveiled in 2021 by the City of Omaha, Douglas County and the Omaha Community Council for Racial Justice and Reconciliation commemorates his death, and the KMTV report says no one was ever held accountable.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (neglect alleged). A 1919 news account says a mob took him from the county jail and strung him up, and a later historical marker says local law enforcement looked on as the crowd beat and hanged him.
Reported by: 1919 newspaper report (reporters); City of Omaha, Douglas County and the Omaha Community Council for Racial Justice and Reconciliation (historical marker text).