Swift Justice: The Southern Way (36 page)

“I don’t understand it,” Leon said. “Why did you do it? Why
did
you save me and my brother?”

“Because I felt sorry for you,” Junior lied. “I was sick of you guys being mistreated. These FBI guys are not going to help you. They’re not going to kill for you like I did. Just leave. Let me take care of them. You and your brother owe me your life. What do you care about a bunch of white men who don’t give a damn about you?”

Junior saw Leon move his hand slightly down. Now was the time.

Junior quickly turned to shoot Leon, but Leon was ready for him.

“Bang!” Leon shot Junior before Junior could turn to shoot Leon. The bullet struck Junior in the side.

As Junior was falling, he shot at Leon. “Bang!”

A bullet struck and hit Leon. Leon dropped the gun. Both men lay on the ground facing each other, but Junior still had his gun. Both men were moaning in pain.

Leon tried to grab his fallen gun.

“No, no, you stupid nigger,” said Junior. “Don’t even think of going for that gun. You’re stupid. You could have just left. But no, now you really fucked up. You just killed two FBI agents and tried to kill me. You’re going to fry in the electric chair.”

Once again, Junior was proud of himself. He had just thought of a way out of the impossible. He could blame it all on Leon. It was perfect. Junior could say that Leon killed both FBI agents and tried to kill Junior. Of course, Junior would have to kill Perry as the blow on the head surely didn’t kill him.

“Look, mister, it’s over,” said Leon. “No one is going to believe you. The FBI already knows about you. They don’t suspect me.”

“Not yet,” said Junior. “Who are they going to believe: the son of a sheriff whose father was just murdered, or some nigger? Come on, it’s over Leon.”

From outside, Junior heard a voice, which sounded like a white man. “Tyler Mason, this is the FBI. Put down your gun right now! You are surrounded.”

Junior was perplexed. If it was the FBI, they would just barge in. The person was bluffing. There was no FBI. Then it dawned on him. It sounded like that Jew lawyer.

“I know it’s you, Goldstein, Fuckin’ Jew boy. It’s a shame that Leon killed two FBI agents and also tried to kill me.”

“Put the gun down,” yelled Goldstein.

“Goodbye, Leon, say hello to God again,” Junior said.

Junior was ready to shoot Leon, when Goldstein and Deron Brooks rushed through the garage door. Deron Brooks was using the top of a garbage can lid to shield himself from the rapid fire of Junior’s gun. The bullets pierced through the lids, but Deron and Goldstein kept their pursuit. In seconds, they pressed the lid onto Junior and pinned him down to the ground. Junior kept firing the gun, but his shots just hit the side of the garage.

“You motherfuckers!” shouted Junior.

At that moment, Perry gradually stood up, holding the back of his head. He picked up his gun and pointed it at the group of men on the ground. In a groggy voice, Perry said, Junior it’s over. You son of a bitch!

Junior eventually conceded. He realized that he would not be the new Imperial Wizard. He would also not be the new sheriff.

Leon waited amongst the crowd at the police station. Two lines formed all along the steps leading up to the entrance. On the left side, the Negroes stood. On the right side, the white people stood. At the bottom of the stairs, the newspaper people and some television crews stood by watching.

Leon was amazed at the calmness of the crowd. Both sides were in shock at the events that happened during the last six months. Dodge County would never be the same. They were all waiting for the police to take Junior to State Prison. He was convicted of six murders, which included Lucky and his crew, the two Sawyer brothers, and FBI Special Agent Hall, who died from Junior’s gunshots. The district attorney did not try Junior for the murder of his father, though the whole town believed that Junior killed his father, because there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. Perhaps it was just too much for the town to try him for such a horrendous crime when they already had enough on him to send him to the electric chair multiple times.

Junior was also convicted of several attempted murders, which were Special Agent Perry, Paul Sawyer, Leon, Deron, and Goldstein.

Junior also faced two more sets of trials. First, the cops, with the help of the FBI, linked Junior to the bomb that exploded at the KOT meeting. This explosion killed Archie Young and Acton Cox and paralyzed the Judge from the neck down. Second, the FBI was going to charge him separately for harming two federal officers in Hall and Perry. The FBI was pissed. They descended on Dodge County in droves. In their eyes, the whole town was responsible for the death of Special Agent Hall and the attempted murder of Special Agent Perry. The FBI made sure that the district attorney convicted Junior of, at least, the killing of their Special Agent, and they were rewarded with a conviction.

Junior’s trial was not easy for the District Attorney, though. The DA was not used to trying
real
crime mysteries. They primarily tried Negroes with poor evidence. So this was a change for them. The FBI provided a lot of assistance to help the DA present the case. Junior’s defense was that Leon and his brother, Deron, were the ones who shot the victims, including Hall. Junior argued that he saved the day and stopped them from finishing off Perry.

For Hall’s murder, it came down to the word of Perry, a respected FBI agent, or Junior’s, a well-respected person up to that point. The all-white, male jury, with mostly secret Klan members, convicted Junior.

For the other murders, it really came down to Leon’s word, which was primarily based on Junior’s confession at the garage, and Junior’s word. Perry couldn’t testify of what Junior said to Leon because he was still groggy and incoherent from the blow to his head. There was some physical evidence, but it was weak. They had Junior’s footprint and his fingerprints on the bullets. But Junior argued that it wasn’t footprints but shoe prints, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people with that type of shoe size and make. As far the fingerprints on the bullets, he and his father had picked up those bullets, so it didn’t prove that he was the shooter.

But Leon told the jury that Junior confessed to the murders in the garage. Junior countered this by saying that of course he had to confess to the murders because Leon had a gun pointed at him. He was just trying to say anything to save his life. Junior argued that the confession, under duress, wasn’t reliable.

The all-white, male, Klan-picked jury was in a dilemma, and they deliberated for two days. It came down to the word of a Negro and one of their own. Amazingly, they ended up believing the Negro over the white guy. They knew in their hearts that Junior did it. What convinced them was they were sure that Junior killed the FBI agent. There was no reason to kill the FBI agent unless he killed the others, the jury figured. Also, they did not consider, Junior, one of them, anymore. They sat back and realized that this one person, Junior, was responsible for the destruction of their beloved town. They had to justify their decision by condemning Junior as an evil, nigger-loving, white person.

Another jury, again another all-white, male, Klan-inflicted jury had to decide whether Junior got the electric chair. This jury didn’t have any qualms about sending Junior to the electric chair. The authorities had convicted him, so it was just a matter of the punishment phase. The jury voted to electrocute Junior.

After the authorities convicted and sentenced Junior, Junior decided to tell on his friends, who abandoned him. He contacted the FBI and told them the whole story of the Klan’s operation. He gave the names of all the Klan citizens in Dodge County. He told them of the Judge’s secret operations and that he was Imperial Wizard of the whole Klan of the State of Texas. This information, coupled with Paul Sawyer’s statements, gave the FBI everything they needed to bring down the Klan in Dodge County.

The FBI sent a team of construction workers that demolished the Klan’s meeting area where they had the KOT meeting. They sent threatening letters to each person on the list informing them that they were on the FBI’s watch list and to not engage in violent acts.

The FBI did not arrest anyone associated with the Klan, though. They knew that was an uphill battle. Regardless, the Klan in Dodge County was not the same. The Judge resigned from the Texas Supreme Court and could no longer carry on his Imperial Wizard duties considering that he was paralyzed. Without effective leadership, the Klan weakened.

Even on the night of the explosion, the Klan couldn’t organize a successful riot. When the mass crowd gathered at the tracks by the industrial area, several newspaper people, in disguise, emerged from their white hooded masks. The newspaper people, include Ryan Ward, of the Austin Gazette, warned them not to kill anyone. They warned them that they would all go to federal prison. Ryan Ward was bluffing, but it worked. He said, “Just go home before anyone else gets killed. Let the FBI and the Texas National Guard solve this. Go home.”

The Klan, without the leaders around, decided to retreat to their homes.

Leon and his brother were both shot. Howard Goldstein was not shot. Leon was shot in the side by his stomach. Deron had a good idea of having the garbage can lid be a shield, but the aluminum shield provided little cover because the bullets easily penetrated the lid. Nevertheless, it probably slowed down the bullet a little bit. He suffered two bullet wounds: one in his thigh and one in the stomach. The FBI made sure the hospital took care of the Brooks brothers. The both spent several weeks in the hospital but would both have full recoveries.

Ironically, Junior, under heavy police and FBI guard, was in the same hospital. Junior recovered from his wounds as well. Leon had shot Junior in the upper shoulder, similar to Paul Sawyer.

~~~~

Leon waited like everyone else lined up at the police station’s steps. The last six months were calm. There was no tension between the whites and blacks, but there was no communication either. Each side continued to work alongside each other but ignore each other at the same time. But there were no violent acts and no verbal attacks, which made Leon feel safer.

The doors swung open and Junior emerged with his hands handcuffed behind him. Junior looked weary and scared. He paused at the top of the stairs, but the policeman behind him nudged him forward. There was a police officer about five steps ahead of Junior and another officer about five steps behind him.

Junior slowly walked down the stairs. With the exception of the newspaper people taking their pictures, there was silence.

The silence didn’t last long, though. White people started spitting on Junior and yelling at him.

“Pig! … Murderer! … You killed my son! …”

Leon couldn’t believe his eyes. Here was a bunch of Negroes standing with white people. The white people were spitting on another white person. Not one white person was even thinking of attacking the Negroes. It was as if they were in this together.

This was all after a Negro shot a white person. Who would have thought six months ago that if a Negro shot a white person, that the white people would be spitting on the white person instead of the Negro.

Yes, Leon thought …
I’m not going to die—at least not in the near future
.