On this day in 1919, a white mob in Omaha, Nebraska, lynched Will Brown after he was accused of raping a white woman, killing him in one of the most notorious acts of racial terror during the Red Summer of 1919.
Brown, a Black laborer, was arrested after 19-year-old Agnes Loebeck reported that she had been assaulted. Newspapers, including the Omaha Bee, publicized the allegation amid broader coverage portraying Black men as threats to white women. Brown maintained his innocence.
On Sept. 28, a crowd gathered outside the Douglas County Courthouse, where Brown was jailed. By evening, thousands surrounded the building. Rioters attacked police officers, broke into businesses for weapons and set fire to the courthouse. Mayor Edward Smith was also beaten and nearly lynched after attempting to intervene.
The mob eventually seized Brown. He was hanged from a pole, shot repeatedly, dragged through downtown Omaha and burned. Sheriff Michael Clark later reported that Brown cried, “I am innocent, I never did it; my God, I am innocent.”
Brown was buried Oct. 1 in Omaha’s Potter’s Field. The burial record listed one word beside his name: “Lynched.”
His grave marker recounts what happened:
“On September 28, 1919, thousands of white people, aided by local law enforcement, lynched a Black man named Will Brown in Omaha, Nebraska. Allegations of crimes against Black people during this era were rarely subject to scrutiny and often sparked lethal violence even if there was no evidence tying the accused to the crime. The sympathetic white press often published false allegations and justified the public violence. After another account from a white woman reporting a rape was published in the local press, a crowd of hundreds of armed white people formed, led by the woman’s brother, and accused Will Brown. Although he maintained his innocence, Mr. Brown, a 40-year-old laborer, was arrested. Hundreds of people set the Douglas County Courthouse on fire and seized Mr. Brown from jail as local law enforcement yelled ‘Come and get him! He is yours!’ Thousands of white men and women watched as Mr. Brown was beaten and hanged from a pole at 18th and Harney. Mr. Brown’s lifeless body was then shot for twenty minutes before being tied to a police car and dragged several blocks to 17th & Dodge. There, mob members set Mr. Brown’s remains on fire and then dragged his body through the streets of downtown Omaha. An infamous photograph of Will Brown’s remains surrounded by white men and children depicts the communal nature of racial terror violence against Black people. No one was ever held accountable for the lynching of Will Brown.”
Although 120 people were indicted for involvement in the riot, most were never successfully prosecuted. All were eventually released without serving prison time.
Although 120 people were indicted for involvement in the riot, most were never successfully prosecuted. All were eventually released without serving prison time.
