Communists; Detroit. Carl Winter (under arrow) in protest parade
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1948-06-11
Communist party leader Carl Winter walks with a group of African Americans, carrying signs protesting the killing of Leon Mosely by a Detroit Police Officer in 1948. "The police problem burst back into public debate with the shooting death of a black teenager, Leon Mosely, in June 1948, some facts of the case were undisputed, Mosely stole a car and was joy riding when patrolman, Louis Melasi spotted his haphazard driving and gave chase, Mosely sped to get away, then crashed into a light pole, versions of what happened next differed, Melasi said Mosely got out of the car in a menacing fashion, then tried to flee, African-American witnesses said Mosely stepped out of the car too dazed to walk, Melasi beat him and then shot him when he tried to defend himself, a coroner's jury, sifting through the evidence a month after the incident, concluded that the killing was 'unnecessary, unwise and unjustifiable'," from Bridging the River of Hatred: The Pioneering Efforts of Detroit Police Commissioner, George Edwards by Mary M. Stolberg.