John Weaver argues that on August 13, 1906 in Brownsville, TX, black soldiers were accused of shooting up the town. With unreliable statements, false evidence and a racist town, President Roosevelt discharged without honor one hundred and sixty-seven black soldiers. The very next day after the shooting, civilians came out with statements that didn’t add up or were just completely unreliable. Mrs. Leahy stated that she saw the soldiers from thirty-five feet away, Elkins too testified that he saw the Negroes but from sixty-five feet away. These two witnesses had no issues recognizing the riders as Negros even during the darkest of the night, yet when Captain Lyon was doing roll call, he had to use a lantern to identify the men he knew very well. Another statement that wasn’t reliable was Charles s. Canada, he stated that when he was down in the gallery of the hotel, he heard the voices of the rider and came to the conclusion that they were Negros. As Canada stated, “‘I was raised among them and I know their voices pretty well’” (Pg. 73 ¶ 2) The evidence that was …show more content…
He believed the flimsy evidence that was presented to him and wanted to hurry and capture the black soldiers that were responsible, however, since none of the soldiers knew who was responsible for the crime they were all punished. They gave the battalion an ultimatum, either someone confess who were involved or “…ever soldier serving at Fort Brown on the night of the raid would be discharged without honor…” Taft later on releases that the finding in the official document were shocking. “It was found that no evidence had been gathered to prove a conspiracy on the part of the members of the battalion.” (Pg. 107 ¶ 6) Out of one hundred and twelve pages of the official documents that President Roosevelt based his decision on, had absolutely no evidence that the battalions had any knowledge in who took place in the