Catlick fans, what's up?

We're about to dive into this crazy theory about W.H. Mitchell.

I'm going to be unpacking a ton of fascinating details.

The good news, I've got a visual explainer all packaged up for you at our website, and it's free.

To see it for yourself, just go to catlick.com forward slash Atlanta Ripper.

Again, that's catlick.com forward slash Atlanta Ripper. Enjoy the episode.

I never would have discovered this whole crazy William Mitchell Lucille Linton kidnapping saga,

had it not been for one small article printed in a New York newspaper in 1909.

You'll remember that after William H. Mitchell was convicted of abducting and assaulting Lucille Linton,

his lawyers filed multiple appeals that eventually escalated to the governor of Georgia.

But Governor Joseph Mackie Brown refused to overturn the ruling.

Shortly after, this small article about Governor Brown's refusal to give clemency

appeared in the New York Age newspaper in 1909.

The New York Age was a successful African-American newspaper in circulation from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.

The article begins with a quick summary.

A Georgia man named W.H. Mitchell dawned blackface and attempted to abduct a prominent white lady.

It then praises Governor Brown for not letting Mitchell off the hook, but it scorches the people of Georgia, saying, quote,

For 40 years, Georgia has coo-cluxed innocent Negroes, end quote.

Then the writer makes a hard pivot.

Here it is.

The question naturally arises, how many of the big burly negroes accused of rape are black-faced brutes of the white race.

How many of the 100 Negroes lynched and the thousands more imprisoned last year in the South were innocent.

...