Meridian, Mississippi Massacre: Black Political Leaders Killed

On March 6, 1871, white Democrats attacked a courthouse in Meridian, Mississippi, during a riot triggered by the trial of three Black Republican leaders. The judge was shot and killed, and over the following days white mobs hunted down and killed approximately 25–30 Black men throughout the city, including several prominent Republican officeholders. The massacre eliminated Republican leadership in Lauderdale County and was part of a broader pattern of targeted assassination of Black political figures across Mississippi. No perpetrators were prosecuted.