Century after Minnesota lynchings, black man convicted of rape 'because of his race' up for pardon

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/12/duluth-lynchings-mason-pardon/

On the night of June 15, 1920, a lynch mob arrived outside the police headquarters in Duluth, Minn., broke into the jail and seized three black men who had been accused of raping a white woman, based on virtually no evidence.

With little intervention by law enforcement, the raving white mob dragged the men up the street. Just a block from police headquarters, before a crowd of as many as 10,000 people, the mob strung Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie from a lamppost.

The lynchings would haunt Duluth for decades, becoming the “the foulest blot upon the city ever known in its history,” as the Duluth Herald described it in 1920. The city formally apologized and erected a memorial to the victims in 2003.

But on Thursday, nearly 100 years after the lynchings, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) said that long overdue justice is also owed to a fourth victim in the horrific episode: Max Mason, a black man ultimately convicted of raping 18-year-old Irene Tusken in 1920, and who Minnesota officials now believe was likely innocent.

The hearing for Max Mason begins in about half an hour.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Irene Tusken's great nephew is now the chief of police in Duluth.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Max Mason's name has been cleared; the pardon was granted.

[sarisataka]

3. That is good

This has been the first year my children's elementary school has not taken their spring field trip from the Twin Cities to Duluth. The itinerary has always included a stop at the memorial.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. I'm happy to hear the memorial is a stop on the tour of the city, and sorry to hear that they

weren't able to take the trip this year (but understand, of course).

[stillcool]

4. I don't think so...

Attorney General Keith Ellison
✔
@AGEllison
I serve on the MN Board of Pardons. Tomorrow @ 9 am we will take up a posthumous pardon application for Max Mason. He was convicted of rape in connection with the infamous Duluth lynchings that happened 100 yrs ago next week. Tmrw, 100 yrs later, we are poised to do justice.

587
10:19 PM - Jun 11, 2020

By
Meagan Flynn
June 12, 2020 at 7:04 a.m. EDT
On Friday, Ellison said he and the Minnesota Board of Pardons will take up Mason’s pardon application, which, if approved, will become the first posthumous pardon in the state’s history. Ellison said that the board is “poised to do justice,” at a time when Minnesota and the nation are laser focused on confronting decades of racial oppression within the criminal justice system and law enforcement, in protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. In Duluth, Black Lives Matter demonstrators have been gathering at the memorial to the lynching victims.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. But 100 years later, justice can still be done,” Ellison said. “The last weeks in MN have shown us we have a need for a better quality of justice. A pardon for Max Mason is another long-delayed step toward it.”


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An all-white jury convicted him. He was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. Mason was paroled after less than five years, though, after the trial judge in his case cast doubt on his guilt in a letter to the parole board.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/12/duluth-lynchings-mason-pardon/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Here's an updated story.

https://www.startribune.com/first-posthumous-pardon-granted-in-duluth-lynchings-case/571215122/

[stillcool]

7. wow...thank you!

that was quick. I saw your comment, but had also read the article, so it wasn't making sense. Thanks again...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. Yep! The OP was from this morning, saying it was likely and at least would be considered for the

first time this morning, and then they went and cleared him. Such great work.