Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance ... - Freedom Archives

Blacks alike were amazed that the group of fourteen were bold enough to attempt
to register."
The white supremacist forces in Holmes would respond swiftly to this
violation of the system of white supremacy . A minister who participated in the
original Holmes County group of fourteen Blacks to register was virtually run out
of town . One month after the journey to Lexington, nightriders tossed Molotov
cocktails and shot several rounds into the home of Hartman Turnbow . The
nightriders waited for Turnbow to escape from the front of his house so they could
assassinate him . Turnbow's wife and daughter escaped the burning house first and
were not harmed by the nightriders. Turnbow appeared from the burning house
with his 16-round .22 semiautomatic rifle. The nightriders fired at Turnbow and
he returned the fire, expending every round . Tumbow's response forced the
terrorists to retreat. Holmes County Blacks believed that Tumbow shot and killed
one of the nightriders but to protect the identity of the terrorist, local authorities
claimed the cause of death was heart attack. 42
After the retreat of the nightriders, Turnbow family turned their attention
to putting out the fire . While there was severe damage, the home was saved. The
next day, Turnbow was arrested on charges of arson by Sheriff Smith. Local
authorities accused Turnbow of setting his own home on fire . Bob Moses and
three other SNCC workers, who came the next morning to investigate the attack
on the Tumbow home, were also arrested . Moses found an automobile license
plate on the Turnbow property, which had apparently fallen from the nightriders'
vehicle . The lost automobile tag turned out to belong to the car of the sheriff. Six
months after the arrests, the charges were dropped against Turnbow and the