In the early moments of a fall day in Montgomery, Alabama, the life of a dedicated police officer was tragically cut short, setting off a wave of violence that would stain the city's history. On September 29, 1919, Officer John B. Barbaree, a 41-year-old male member of the Montgomery Police Department, was shot and killed. The fatal encounter occurred shortly after midnight on the 100 block of South Hall Street as he was attempting to arrest a suspect.
The man Officer Barbaree was trying
to apprehend was identified as Willie Temple. During the attempt to take him into custody, Temple allegedly shot Officer Barbaree, inflicting a mortal wound. In the ensuing chaos, Temple himself was wounded and subsequently taken to a local hospital for treatment. The death of the officer, however, ignited a furious and violent response from a segment of the community, leading to further bloodshed.
The night of Officer Barbaree's death, a white mob formed, seeking retribution. Their anger was first directed at two other African American men, Miles Phifer and Robert Crosky, who were being transported by the sheriff. The mob intercepted the vehicle, overpowered the lawmen, and brutally lynched both Phifer and Crosky in a nearby area. The violence did not end there. The following day, the same mob forced their way into the hospital where Willie Temple was being treated for his injuries. They seized Temple from his hospital bed and subjected him to the same fate, lynching him as well. These events were part of a period of intense racial violence across the United States known as the Red Summer of 1919. The brother of John Barbaree, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Franklin Barbaree, was also killed in the line of duty a decade later in 1929.
