US Army overturns convictions of 110 Black soldiers charged in 1917 Houston riots

VANESSA ARREDONDO, USA TODAY
November 13, 2023 

The U.S. Army announced Monday that it would set aside the convictions of 110 Black soldiers who were charged with mutiny, assault, and murder in the 1917 Houston riots.

In October 2020 and December 2021, the South Texas College of Law petitioned for a review of the soldiers' courts-martial following the World War I-era riots, which left 19 people dead, the Army said in a release. Officials said the soldiers’ records will be corrected, when possible, to indicate the men’s service as honorable.

"After a thorough review, the Board has found that these Soldiers were wrongly treated because of their race and were not given fair trials," said Secretary of the U.S. Army Christine Wormuth in a statement. "By setting aside their convictions and granting honorable discharges, the Army is acknowledging past mistakes and setting the record straight."

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is involved in the case and will assist family members. Relatives of the soldiers may be entitled to benefits, Army officials said.

The Army Board for Correction of Military Records reviewed each of the men’s convictions and found “significant deficiencies” among the cases, according to the release. Board members determined that trial procedures were “fundamentally unfair,” officials said.

The military service said it also received petitions from retired general officers requesting clemency for all the soldiers.

Clashes erupted during 1917 Houston riots

On a hot and rainy night on Aug. 23, 1917, 156 troops from the all-Black 24th infantry marched from Camp Logan into Houston. A riot broke out lasting two hours, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers and 15 white civilians, according to Prairie View A&M University in Texas.

According to researchers at the university, the episode had the "ignominious distinction of being the only race riot in U.S. history where more whites than blacks were killed." It also resulted in the largest murder trial and court martial in the country, the researchers said, procedures the Army ultimately deemed unfair more than a century later.

Army officials said the riots were preceded by months of racial provocation against members of the infantry, including an incident in which two soldiers were violently assaulted and arrested. Following the attacks in 1917, rumors circulated about additional threats to the troops.

A group of more than 100 soldiers armed themselves in August and marched into Houston where "clashes erupted,” officials said.

In the months that followed, 110 soldiers were convicted, and 19 men were executed in what became the largest mass execution of American troops by the U.S. Army, officials said. The first set of executions happened in secrecy, prompting the military to implement a law that would prohibit capital punishment without review by the War Department and the president.

“As a Texas native, I am proud that the Army has now formally restored honor to Soldiers of the 3-24 and their families,” Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said in a statement. “We cannot change the past; however, this decision provides the Army and the American people an opportunity to learn from this difficult moment in our history.”

Dec. 11, 1917: Black Soldiers Executed for Houston Riot - Zinn Education Project (zinnedproject.org)