George Love

On January 8, 1958, a 25-man posse shot and killed George Love, a 38-year-old African American accused of arson, robbery, and multiple murders. Newspaper articles from January 1958 reported that Love escaped arrest in Ruleville, Mississippi, by shooting a law enforcement officer four times, leaving him seriously wounded, but alive. Love fled after the shooting, prompting the organization of the posse and the manhunt that lasted through the night. The articles reported that the posse discovered Love hiding on a plantation several miles east of Ruleville. Reportedly, as the posse closed in, Love fired upon the posse, which returned fire. During the exchange of gunfire, Love was fatally shot. An NAACP press release from January 23, 1958, alleged that an investigation by Medgar Evers, NAACP field secretary for Mississippi, concluded that Love was shot in the back.