Utilisateur:LPK2019Pierre/Brouillon

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Modèle:Infobox civilian attack

Modèle:Campaignbox Nadir of American race relations

Contexte de l'affaire[modifier | modifier le code]

L'opinion Anti-Italiens à la Nouvelle-Orléans[modifier | modifier le code]

A la fin du 19ème siècle en Amérique, il y a de plus en plus de préjugés à l'encontre des Italiens, bien qu'ils sont embauchés pour répondre à la demande d'une main-d’œuvre bon marché. Ils immigrent vers le Sud de l’Amérique, en particulier en Floride et en Louisiane, en grand nombre à cause des mauvaises conditions de vie dans les foyers et pour combler la pénurie de main-d'œuvre bon marché créée par la fin de l'esclavage et la préférence des affranchis pour travailler à leur propre compte comme métayers. Les planteurs de sucre, en particulier, recherchent des travailleurs plus dociles que les anciens esclaves ; ils ont engagé des recruteurs d'immigrants pour faire venir des Italiens dans le sud de la Louisiane. Dans les années 1890, des milliers d'Italiens arrivent chaque année à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Beaucoup s'installent dans le French Quarter, qui, au début du XXème siècle, est devenu célèbre sous le nom de "Petite Sicile".[1]

Dans une lettre répondant à une enquête sur l'immigration à la Nouvelle-Orléans, le maire Joseph A. Shakspeare a exprimé le préjugé anti-italien commun, se plaignant que la ville était devenue attirante pour "...les pires classes de l'Europe : les Italiens du Sud et les Siciliens...les personnes les plus oisives, vicieuses et sans valeur parmi nous". Il a affirmé qu'ils étaient "sales dans leurs personnes et leurs maisons" et les a blâmés pour la propagation des maladies, concluant qu'ils étaient "sans courage, honneur, vérité, fierté, religion, ou toute autre qualité qui fait un bon citoyen".[1]

Assassinat de David Hennessy[modifier | modifier le code]

Conception artistique de l'assassinat d'Hennessy "Scene of the Assassination", The Mascot, Nouvelle- Orléans, 1890.

Le soir du 15 octobre 1890, le chef de la police de la Nouvelle-Orléans, David Hennessy, est abattu par plusieurs hommes armés alors qu'il rentre chez lui à pied de son travail. Hennessy a riposté et a poursuivi ses agresseurs avant de s'effondrer. Lorsqu'on lui demanda qui lui avait tiré dessus, Hennessy aurait chuchoté au capitaine William O'Connor, "Dagoes" (un terme dérogatoire pour les Italiens et les autres personnes d'origine méditerranéenne). Hennessy s'est réveillé à l'hôpital pendant plusieurs heures après la fusillade et a parlé à des amis, mais n'a pas nommé les tireurs. Le lendemain, des complications sont apparues et il est mort.[2][3]

Il y avait eu une querelle permanente entre les Provenzano et les Mantranga[note 1] familles, qui étaient des rivaux commerciaux sur le front de mer de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Hennessy avait mis plusieurs des Provençaux en prison, et leur procès en appel approchait. Selon certains rapports, Hennessy avait prévu de présenter de nouvelles preuves au procès qui permettraient d'innocenter les Provenza et d'impliquer les Mantranga. Si cela s'avérait vrai, cela signifierait que les Mantrangas, et non les Provenza, avaient un motif pour le meurtre.[4] Un policier qui était un ami de Hennessy a témoigné plus tard qu'Hennessy lui avait dit qu'il n'avait pas de tels projets.[5] Quoi qu'il en soit, il est forcement admis que les tueurs de Hennessy soit italiens. Les journaux locaux tels que le Times-Democrat et le Daily Picayune accuse librement "Dagoes" de ce meurtre.[6]

Investigation[modifier | modifier le code]

L'assassinat de David Hennessy a été rapidement suivi par l'arrestation massive d'italiens de la région. Le maire Joseph A. Shakspeare (selon la Picayune) a dit à la police de "fouiller tout le quartier". Arrêtez tous les Italiens que vous rencontrez". En 24 heures, 45 personnes ont été arrêtées.[7] Selon certains témoignages, jusqu'à 250 Italiens ont été raflés.[8] La plupart ont finalement été libérés par manque de preuves.[9] Les Italiens locaux ont eu peur de sortir de chez eux pendant plusieurs jours après le meurtre, mais la fureur s'est finalement calmée et ils sont retournés travailler.[6]

Dix-neuf hommes ont finalement été accusés du meurtre ou de complicité et détenus sans caution dans la prison paroissiale. Parmi eux, Charles Mantranga, qui a été accusé d'avoir comploté le meurtre, et plusieurs de ses amis et travailleurs. Pietro Monasterio, un cordonnier, a été arrêté parce qu'il vivait en face de l'endroit où se tenait Hennessy lorsqu'il a été tué. Antonio Marchesi, un colporteur de fruits, a été arrêté parce qu'il était un ami de Monasterio et "était connu pour fréquenter son magasin de chaussures".[10] Emmanuele Polizzi a été arrêté lorsqu'un policier l'a formelement identifié comme l'un des hommes qu'il a vu s'enfuir en courant de la scène du crime.[9]

A few days after Hennessy's death, Mayor Shakspeare gave a speech declaring that Hennessy had been "the victim of Sicilian vengeance" and calling upon the citizenry to "teach these people a lesson they will not forget."[11] He appointed a Committee of Fifty to investigate "the existence of secret societies or bands of oath-bound assassins...and to devise necessary means and the most effectual and speedy measures for the uprooting and total annihilation" of any such organizations.[9] On October 23, the committee published an open letter to the Italian community encouraging them to inform on each other anonymously.

The letter ended on a menacing note:

We hope this appeal will be met by you in the same spirit in which we issue it, and that this community will not be driven to harsh and stringent methods outside of the law, which may involve the innocent and guilty alike...Upon you and your willingness to give information depends which of these courses shall be pursued.[12]

The letter was signed by the Committee's chairman, Edgar H. Farrar, who later served as president of the American Bar Association.[13] Other prominent members of the Committee included General Algernon S. Badger, Judge Robert C. Davey, politician Walter C. Flower, Colonel James Lewis, and architect Thomas Sully.[14]

The Committee of Fifty hired two private detectives to pose as prisoners and try to get the defendants to talk about the murder. Apparently the detectives did not obtain any useful information, because they were not asked to testify at the trial. Only Polizzi, who appeared to be mentally ill, said anything to incriminate himself, and his confession was deemed inadmissible.[15]

Meanwhile, the defendants were subject to extremely negative pretrial publicity.[16] Across the country, newspapers ran headlines such as "Vast Mafia in New Orleans" and "1,100 Dago Criminals".[17]

Several shotguns were found near the scene of the crime. One was a muzzle-loading shotgun, a type which was widely used in New Orleans and throughout the South, but which police claimed was a "favorite" of Italians. Another had a hinged stock. Local newspapers reported that such guns were imported from Italy; in fact they were manufactured by the W. Richards Company.[18][7]

Spurred to action by the popular accounts of Hennessy's murder, a 29-year-old newspaper salesman named Thomas Duffy walked into the prison on October 17, 1890, sought out Antonio Scaffidi, whom he had heard was a suspect, and shot him in the neck with a revolver. Scaffidi survived the attack, only to be lynched a few months later. Duffy was eventually convicted of assault and sentenced to six months in prison.[19][20]

Murder trial[modifier | modifier le code]

A trial for nine of the suspects began on February 16, 1891, and concluded on March 13, 1891, with Judge Joshua G. Baker presiding.[21] The defendants were represented by Lionel Adams of the law firm Adams and O'Malley, and the state by district attorney Charles A. Luzenberg. Jury selection was a time-consuming process: Hundreds of prospective jurors were rejected before 12 people were found who were not opposed to capital punishment, were not openly prejudiced against Italians, and were not of Italian descent themselves.[22][23]

Much of the evidence presented at trial was weak or contradictory. The murder had taken place on a poorly lit street on a damp night,[24] in a notoriously corrupt city,[4][25] and the eyewitness testimony was unreliable. Suspects were identified by witnesses who had not seen their faces, but only their clothing. Captain Bill O'Connor, the witness who claimed to have heard Hennessy blame "Dagoes" for the assassination, was not called to testify. There were numerous other discrepancies and improprieties. At one point, two employees of the defense law firm were arrested for attempting to bribe prospective jurors.[26] Afterward, when federal district attorney William Grant looked into the case, he reported that the evidence against the men was "exceedingly unsatisfactory" and inconclusive. He could find no evidence linking any of the lynched men to the Mafia, or to any attempts to bribe the jury.[27] The bribery charges were eventually dismissed.[28]

Mantranga and another man, Bastian Incardona, were found not guilty by directed verdict, as no evidence had been presented against them. The jury declared four of the defendants not guilty, and asked the judge to declare a mistrial for the other three, as they could not agree on a verdict.[29] The six who were acquitted were not released, but were held pending an additional charge of "lying in wait" with intent to commit murder. Luzenberg admitted that without a murder conviction, he would be forced to drop the "lying in wait" charges. But all nine men were returned to the prison—a decision which would prove fatal for some of them.[30][31]

The jurors were given the option to leave by a side door, but chose to walk out the front door and face the angry crowd. Several defended their decision to reporters, arguing that they had "reasonable doubt" and had done what they thought was right.[31] Some were harassed, threatened, fired from their jobs, and otherwise penalized for failing to convict the Italians.[32]

Incitement[modifier | modifier le code]

William S. Parkerson inciting the mob. Harper's Weekly, March 28, 1891.

A group of about 150 people, calling themselves the Committee on Safety (referring to the Revolutionary War era),  met that evening to plan their response. The following morning an ad appeared in local newspapers calling for a mass meeting at the statue of Henry Clay, near the prison. Citizens were told to "come prepared for action."[30]

The Daily States editorialized:

Rise, people of New Orleans! Alien hands of oath-bound assassins have set the blot of a martyr's blood upon your vaunted civilization! Your laws, in the very Temple of Justice, have been bought off, and suborners have caused to be turned loose upon your streets the midnight murderers of David C. Hennessy, in whose premature grave the very majesty of our American law lies buried with his mangled corpse — the corpse of him who in life was the representative, the conservator of your peace and dignity.[33]

As thousands of demonstrators gathered near the Parish Prison, Pasquale Corte, the Italian consul in New Orleans, sought the help of Louisiana governor Francis T. Nicholls to prevent an outbreak of violence. The governor declined to take any action without a request from Mayor Shakspeare, who had gone out to breakfast and could not be reached.[34] Meanwhile, at the Clay statue, attorney William S. Parkerson was exhorting the people of New Orleans to "set aside the verdict of that infamous jury, every one of whom is a perjurer and a scoundrel."[35] When the speech was over, the multi-racial crowd [36][37][38] marched to the prison, chanting, "We want the Dagoes."[39]

ill Polizzi was hauled outside, hanged from a lamppost, and shot. Antonio Bagnetto, a fruit peddler, was hanged from a tree and shot. Nine others were shot or clubbed to death inside the prison.[8] The bullet-riddled bodies of Polizzi and Bagnetto were left hanging for hours.[40][39]


See also[modifier | modifier le code]

Notes[modifier | modifier le code]

  1. ↑ Also spelled "Matranga" in some documents.

References[modifier | modifier le code]

  1. ↑ a et b Liles 2017.
  2. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Smith 2007, p. xxiv.
  4. ↑ a et b Botein 1979, p. 264.
  5. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 76.
  6. ↑ a et b Botein 1979, p. 267.
  7. ↑ a et b Botein 1979, p. 265.
  8. ↑ a et b Maselli et Candeloro 2004, p. 35.
  9. ↑ a b et c Botein 1979, p. 266.
  10. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 150, 14.
  11. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 144.
  12. ↑ Smith 2007, p. 115.
  13. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 21–22.
  14. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 146-147.
  15. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 68.
  16. ↑ Botein 1979, p. 278.
  17. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 66.
  18. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 15–16.
  19. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 41–43.
  20. ↑ Smith 2007, p. xiv.
  21. ↑ Smith 2007, p. xii.
  22. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 72.
  23. ↑ Botein 1979, p. 269.
  24. ↑ Smith 2007, p. 129.
  25. ↑ Smith 2007, p. 33.
  26. ↑ Botein 1979, p. 269–270.
  27. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 114.
  28. ↑ Smith 2007, p. xv.
  29. ↑ Smith 2007, p. 192, 208.
  30. ↑ a et b Gambino 2000, p. 77.
  31. ↑ a et b Smith 2007, p. 209.
  32. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 103, 154.
  33. ↑ Smith 2007, p. 216.
  34. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 78–81.
  35. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 157.
  36. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 81,83.
  37. ↑ Smith 2007, p. 220.
  38. ↑ NY Times, March 15, 1891.
  39. ↑ a et b Botein 1979, p. 272.
  40. ↑ Gambino 2000, p. 83–86.

Sources[modifier | modifier le code]

Books[modifier | modifier le code]

  • (en) Humbert S. Nelli, The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States, University of Chicago Press, (ISBN 9780226571324, lire en ligne)
  • (en) Stephen Puleo, The Boston Italians: A Story of Pride, Perseverance, and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day, Boston, Beacon Press, (ISBN 9780807050361, lire en ligne)
  • (en) Tom Smith, The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans "Mafia" Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob, Lyons Press, (ISBN 9781592289011, lire en ligne)

Articles[modifier | modifier le code]

  • John V. Baiamonte, « 'Who Killa de Chief' Revisited: The Hennessey Assassination and Its Aftermath, 1890–1991 », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 33, no 2,‎ , p. 117–146 (JSTOR 4232935)
  • Barbara Botein, « The Hennessy Case: An Episode in Anti-Italian Nativism », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 20, no 3,‎ , p. 261–279 (JSTOR 4231912)
  • Barbara Botein, « Review », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 19, no 4,‎ , p. 505–506 (JSTOR 4231852)
  • Christine DeLucia, « Getting the Story Straight: Press Coverage of Italian-American Lynchings from 1856–1910 », Italian Americana, vol. 21, no 2,‎ , p. 212–221 (JSTOR 29776894)
  • Joy Jackson, « Review », The Journal of Southern History, Southern Historical Association, vol. 43, no 4,‎ , p. 628–629 (JSTOR 2207032)
  • Michael L. Kurtz, « Organized Crime in Louisiana History: Myth and Reality », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 24, no 4,‎ , p. 355–376 (JSTOR 4232305)
  • Eugene E. Leach, « Mental Epidemics: Crowd Psychology and American Culture, 1890–1940 », American Studies, Mid-America American Studies Association, vol. 33, no 1,‎ , p. 5–29 (JSTOR 40644255)
  • Henry Cabot Lodge, « Lynch Law and Unrestricted Immigration », The North American Review, University of Northern Iowa, vol. 152, no 414,‎ , p. 602–612 (JSTOR 25102181)
  • Raymond O. Nussbaum, « Review », The Journal of American History, Oxford University Press, vol. 64, no 3,‎ , p. 809–810 (JSTOR 1887297)
  • Ira M. Wasserman, « Media Rhetoric and Images of Lynching in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries », Michigan Sociological Review, Michigan Sociological Association, vol. 12,‎ , p. 68–94 (JSTOR 40969023)
  • Clive Webb, « Review », The Journal of American History, Oxford University Press, vol. 87, no 3,‎ , p. 1155–1156 (JSTOR 2675451)
  • Bell I. Wiley et George E. Pozzetta, « Review », The Florida Historical Quarterly, Florida Historical Society, vol. 56, no 3,‎ , p. 378–379 (JSTOR 30147455)
  • (en) « Chief Hennessy Avenged; Eleven of His Italian Assassins Lynched by a Mob. An Uprising of Indignant Citizens in New Orleans – The Prison Doors Forced and the Italian Murderers Shot Down », The New York Times,‎ (lire en ligne)
  • (en) « The New Orleans Affair », The New York Times,‎ , p. 4 (lire en ligne)
  • (en) « STILETTO RULE: New Orleans Arose to Meet the Curse », The Boston Globe,‎ , p. 1 (lire en ligne)

Further reading[modifier | modifier le code]

  • Alan G. Gauthreaux, « An Inhospitable Land: Anti-Italian Sentiment and Violence in Louisiana, 1891–1924 », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 51, no 1,‎ , p. 41–68 (JSTOR 40646346)
  • (en) Joseph Maselli et Dominic Candeloro, Italians in New Orleans, Arcadia Publishing, , 35–42 p. (ISBN 9780738516929, lire en ligne), « New Orleans's 1891 Nightmare: Eleven Italians Lynched »
  • (en) Marco Rimanelli et Sheryl Lynn Postman, The 1891 New Orleans Lynchings and U.S.-Italian Relations: A Look Back, P. Lang, (ISBN 9780820416724, lire en ligne)

Articles from the 1930s[modifier | modifier le code]

The studies by Coxe and Kendall have been widely cited, both as sources and as examples of uncritical acceptance of the "Sicilian Mafia" thesis.

  • John E. Coxe, « The New Orleans Mafia Incident », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. XX,‎ , p. 1067–1110
  • John S. Kendall, « Who Killa de Chief? », Louisiana History, Louisiana Historical Association, vol. XXII,‎ , p. 492–530

Fiction[modifier | modifier le code]

  • Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx. This 1996 novel begins in the 19th century, as a Sicilian accordion-maker comes to the USA in search of better opportunities. He is shot by an anti-Italian lynch mob and his accordion is passed along, becoming the center of events like a cat with nine lives.

External links[modifier | modifier le code]

Modèle:Wiktionary

Sur les autres projets Wikimedia :

Modèle:Lynching in the United States

Modèle:Coord missing

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