100 Years Ago This Week: June 2-8

From The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, June 5: City Court Judge James Derry had some pointed comments yesterday regarding the handling of prisoners by Indianapolis police. When an African American man appeared in court with a swollen face and bandaged head, the judge learned the man had been beaten when he tried to put one of the nine officers who had come to arrest him out of his home. “It is a pity,” said Judge Deery, “that nine policemen cannot make a man submit to arrest without smearing him with blood. Policemen are now decorating the federal court because they used some of the same tactics and smeared a lot of voters on registration day in 1914 with blood. Now it seems some police are transferring these activities elsewhere in the city.” The judge dismissed the case against the man.