LogFAQs > #884088655

Long story short the police chief of New Orleans was shot to death in 1890. While he was dying he accused the Italian mob of assassinating him for pursuing cases against them. When the chief died a bunch of Italian people were arrested including Italian mob figures in the city.

The prosecution couldn't get a conviction and the local press printed stories saying the juries were being coerced and/or bribed and thousands people stormed the jail and 19 Italians were dragged out of their cells and killed in the street with several being hanged from street lamps or trees outside the prison,

At this point it is impossible to determine which of the people lynched were in the mafia and which were just random Italians that were just rounded up to satisfy communal outrage.