On this day, August 14, in 1911

 Zachariah Walker, a black factory worker in Coatsville, Pennsylvania was murdered after a fight he had two nights earlier resulted in the death of a white security guard. Walker was hospitalized the next day after attempting to kill himself, and while in the hospital confessed to killing the security guard in self-defense. The town sheriff told the town that Walker was a cold blooded murderer and casually mentioned that he would not intervene if a lynching were to take place. An excited mob then broke into the hospital and kidnapped Walker, burning him alive in front of thousands of white spectators.