28. The Sheriff Organized A Citizens’ Militia To Quell The Supposed Insurrection
A posse comitatus refers to a group of people that a sheriff or other conservator of the peace organizes for the purpose of defending the county or suppressing lawless behavior. The sheriff in Phillips County organized a posse to put down the insurrection that so many whites were sure would happen.
White supremacists in the area were all too happy to join what amounted to a mob. By the end of the first night, there were hundreds of whites assembled to avenge the death of the white man at the church and make sure that a black insurrection did not happen.
