Date: November 26, 1933
On this Day with SHAC, thousands of people in San Jose, California, stormed the jail looking for vengeance and justice. Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, who were suspected of kidnapping and killing Brooke Hart, the son of local storeowner, were being held at the jail in question. The mob of angry citizens proceeded to lynch the accused men and then pose them for pictures.
This violent outcry made by the people of San Jose followed the Nov. 9, 1933 abduction of 22 year-old Brooke Hart from his car. His family had received a $40,000 ransom demand, and, soon after, Hart’s wallet was found on a tanker ship in a nearby bay. After Hart’s remains washed ashore, a vigilante mob began to form, with newspapers and local radio stations reporting on a possibility of a lynching. This however, was met with little to no resistance from officials in the area, with the Governor, James Rolph, even rejecting the National Guard’s offer to send assistance.
On Nov. 26, 1933 the angry mob converged at the jail and, after getting past the guards and the prison cells, the men were dragged out of the prison and hung. In the aftermath of the violent event, the public seemed to welcome the gruesome act, with pieces of the rope being sold off, classes at the nearby University applauding the act, and the Governor publicly praising the mob.
—Compiled by Alexandra Grant