officer and getting away with it, especially in alabama. we d gotten the rope, we got the gun, and then i tied the hangman s noose in henry s car. we were out on a hunt. that s what we were doing. we were hunting. we were hunting black people. klansmen said that they were out hunting black people and they came upon michael donald and killed him. they literally mean they were out hunting black people. just go watch the tape of what happened to ahmaud arbery when they killed him on the streets in georgia. watch men, who are not police officers, who have no authority, drive around and literally corner off this young man, and then shoot him with a shotgun in his hand, in his body.
he was a strong person. so he was just overpowered. he probably got tired. but he was a strong person, and i know that for a fact. he fought them. i knew he fought them. i knew he did. he was hit way over 100 almost 200 times, at least 200 times with a limb that was found. and then we killed him. and henry went and got the rope. we put the rope round his neck. henry put his foot on mike s head, and was pulling on it to hold his head secure while we tied the noose. henry and i put him in the trunk of the car. henry cut his throat. and we took him back to mobile and lynched him. just imagine that. a person was brutally beaten, their throat was cut, and then
i couldn t live here no more. and i started staying at the salvation army in pritchard. i honestly believed that they would have killed my mom and daddy. 29-year-old henry hays looked chipper as his capital murder trial got under way. security is very tight at the trial where in his opening argument, acting district attorney tom harrison charged that hays and 20-year-old james tiger knowles went out looking for a black man and found michael donald. i put tiger knowles on the stand, and we went through, you know, who he is, did he know henry hays, and how did he know him. just asking what happened that night. soon as he leaned over into the car to give us directions, i put a pistol in his face and made him get in the car. then he started begging for his life. you ve changed. so have we. that s why new dove body wash now has 24-hour renewing micro moisture for continuous care.
would be the outcome of the trial. and bennie hays made a statement to the effect that if a black person and he used another word could get away with killing a white cop, then we ought to be able to get away with killing a black person, again, using another term. so, henry and tiger left the apartment on herndon avenue looking for a black person to kill and to lynch, solely because the klan wanted to, quote, send the message. there was fear the black community would start increasing its vote.
chair if convicted of killing a young black man, michael donald. the two or three times that i paid any attention to henry, he appeared to be scared to death, justifiably so, cause the ship was sinking. every witness i put on was another nail in his coffin. when tiger knowles told the story, i think everybody was just so amazed, cause if it hadn t been for him, we never would have known. testifying for the prosecution, james tiger nowles, pointed at his fellow ku klux klansman, henry hays, and said that together, they killed 19-year-old michael donald in march 1981 because he was black. the klan wanted the message to get back to the black people of not just of alabama, but the whole united states, that we would not stand for a black person killing a white police