On This Date in Minnesota History: November 15

November 15, 1919 – Thirty-two Luverne, Minn., residents were welcomed home today by a large delegation, headed by a band, after being acquitted in federal court in Mankato on the charge of kidnapping, tarring and feathering of John Meintz.

John Meintz¹

Meintz had requested personal damages of $100,000 for the treatment he’d received on the evening of August 19, 1918. The jury denied him any damages, after deliberating one and a half hours.

Judge Wilbur F. Booth, in charging the jury, said that the evidence was overwhelming in support of the contention that Meintz was disloyal (by not supporting war bonds) and that there was a strong feeling against him in the community.

The action of the Luverne citizens in staging a celebration was taken as an indication of strong approval of the acquittal verdict.

Luverne Welcomes You²

The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune; “All Luverne Greets 32 Citizens Freed in Tar-Feather Case; Court Vindicates Men Accused of Punishing John Meintz as Disloyalist.”; November 16, 1919; p. 1.

http://www.historybyzim.com/2012/06/john-meints-wwi-anti-german-sentiment/

¹http://maryannkreitzer.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

²http://imgur.com/xsaXB