ABSTRACT
O n November 30, 1935, at about nine o’clock in the evening, a group of Tampa policemen, without a warrant, entered a home at 307 East Palm Avenue and seized six men who werth holding a political meeting. Four of the six were members of the Socialist party. All belonged to the Modern Democrats, a new local party that had run candidates in the recent municipal election on a platform containing socialist ideas. Now, almost a month after their candidates had been defeated by incumbents, these leaders of the Modern Democrats were being taken to police headquarters for questioning about their alleged “Communist activities.” After a brief interrogation, the men were released, but three of them—Eugene F. Poulnot, Sam Rogers, and Joseph Shoemaker—were abducted by a gang waiting in cars outside police headquarters. These three, all unemployed, and known for their opposition to the city administration, were taken to a wooded area some fourteen miles from Tampa. There they were undressed and flogged, after which hot tar and feathers were applied to the wounds. The three were then warned to “get out of town in twenty-four hours or we’ll kill you.” Poulnot and Rogers were able to make their painful way back to Tampa, but Shoemaker, who had suffered the worst beating, collapsed and spent the night in a ditch alongside a deserted country road. The following morning, Shoemaker’s friends found him and rushed him to a hospital. 1 According to one of the doctors, “He is horribly mutilated. I wouldn’t beat a hog the way that man was whipped…. He was beaten until he is paralyzed on one side, probably from blows on the head…. I doubt if three square feet would cover the total area of bloodshot bruises on his body, not counting the parts injured only by tar” 2 In a desperate attempt to save Shoemaker’s life, doctors amputated his left leg, but to no avail. The victim died on December 9, nine days after the flogging. 3
