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A hundred years later, the state of Minnesota dropped charges on Friday against another black man convicted of the crime, who has repeatedly denied involvement in the crime.
Max Mason, who died in 1942, became the first person to receive grace in Minnesota after death. The move has great symbolic significance at a time when protests of racism have erupted among Americans.
The forgiveness was made long before the death of George Floyd, a black man, on May 25, who died when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his neck to the knee for nearly nine minutes.
The incident recorded in the video sparked a wave of protests across the country, so forgiveness was announced to M. Mason like never before.
“After 100 years, justice has been done,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison wrote on Twitter.
“The past few weeks in Minnesota have shown that we need better quality justice. Grace for Max Mason is another long overdue step toward justice,” added Ellison.
On June 14, 1920, a young white woman, Irene Tusken, visited a circus in Dulute with a friend. The next day, the man told his father that they had been attacked by black members of the circus company and that I. Tusken had been raped.
Police arrested and interrogated several black men, including M. Mason, but the couple was unable to identify any of the attackers.
Court documents show that the doctor examined the woman but found no evidence of assault.
Mason was released and rejoined the traveling circus, which left Duluth. However, he was later detained by the police along with several other men.
That same night, a furious crowd stormed the police station and dragged the three men, who were dragged through the streets before hanging in front of thousands of people.
The famous American singer Bob Dylan was born in Dulute, whose song “Desolation Row”, composed in 1965, was partly related to a crime in his hometown.
The city apologized for the lynching and in 2003 built a monument to the three dead men.
Mason escaped that fate, but was sentenced to 30 years in prison, in part because it was learned that he, like me, Tusken, had gonorrhea, a common venereal disease at the time.
“If he had been white, I doubt he would have been convicted,” said County Attorney Mason Forbes.
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