A Supreme Case of Contempt: The Arrest

The Arrest

Two days after the attack, Hamilton County Sheriff Joseph F. Shipp (shown here) and Judge Samuel D. McReynolds, both up for re-election, offered a $375 reward for anyone who could identify the attacker. A local man stepped forward to claim the reward, saying he saw 19-year old Ed Johnson, black man, near the scene. Johnson was arrested, despite his insistence that he was elsewhere at the time.