The Waco lynch mob.

The Waco lynch mob.

In 1916, the town of Waco, Texas became the site of one of the most brutal murders in American history. After a black teenage farmhand named Jesse Washington was convicted of murdering his employer’s wife, the town collectively decided to show the world just how ugly human nature can be.

 After a phony trial lasting under an hour, the court released Washington to a waiting crowd. The 17-year-old was beaten, stripped naked, stabbed, and dragged through town to the courthouse, where a bonfire and photographer were waiting.

 Over the next two hours, Washington was hoisted up, lowered into the bonfire and hoisted up again, his torture timed almost precisely to keep him alive as long as possible. As the hired photographer snapped pictures, locals cut off Washington’s fingers, toes, and genitals and children pulled teeth from his head. 

The photographs make it look like a particularly gruesome picnic—over half the town attended, 15,000 people in all, including the sheriff and mayor. Police officers were ordered not to arrest anyone, and even those who could later be identified from the pictures never faced any charges. Essentially, an entire town mindlessly slaughtered a young boy and got away with it, simply because their victim was black.(Listverse)