Lynching of Joe Smith

Joe Smith, an African-American man, was killed by a mob in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on July 7, 1927. According to contemporary press accounts, the Decatur Daily reported that Smith was accused of attempting to "attack" a "young white girl" on July 6, 1927. The report states that when the girl's father discovered the encounter, Smith used the girl as a shield to protect himself from the father's gun. Smith was reportedly captured after the girl identified him, and was then "spirited away" by a group of men before law enforcement could take him into custody.

Sheriff W. T. Shirley and his deputies reportedly attempted to locate Smith following his abduction by the mob, but the sheriff stated that he believed Smith was likely to be lynched. Soon afterward, Smith's body was found — described as "bullet-riddled" — hanging from a tree approximately 17 miles (27 km) from Yazoo City.

The case was later documented by John R. Steelman in his PhD dissertation on "mob action in the South," which listed Joe Smith among the cases examined. Steelman's account summarized the allegation and outcome: "Joe Smith is alleged to have 'attempted to attack a young white girl'. On July 7 his body, 'full of hot lead', was found hanging to the limb of a tree."

No one is reported to have been charged or convicted in connection with Smith's killing, and the case remains an extrajudicial killing carried out by a mob outside of any legal process. The characterization of the initial accusation against Smith rests solely on the contemporaneous newspaper account, and the underlying facts of the alleged incident on July 6, 1927, were never tested in a court of law due to Smith's killing before any legal proceedings could take place.