Don Shift Sends: When the 2nd Amendment was Used Over Election Fraud: the Battle of Athens (1946)

The entire county was under the control of the political control. The deputies who replaced the men who went to fight, were in some cases, convicts. Every level of employment and government was under the control of the cronies. The GIs returning home were arrested and robbed of their pay when they mustered out.

In the 1946 election, the anti-corruption candidates stood for election. A black farmer who came to vote was beaten, then shot, after trying to flee the beating. A poll watcher was arrested for inspecting the ballot box. A man was savagely beaten when he objected to an unregistered, underage woman voting. When the counting began and the anti-corruption candidates were in the lead, the deputies stole the ballot boxes and took them to jail.

Knowing that by dawn, the corrupt cronies would receive reinforcement, the GIs decided to act. With the corrupt politicians “certifying” their own election in secret, the only way to stop the fraud was through violence. The GIs broke into the National Guard armory and armed themselves with rifles and submachine guns.