Ku Klux Klan activities in Inglewood, California, were highlighted by the 1922 arrest and trial of 36 men, most of them masked, for a night-time raid on a suspected bootlegger and his family. The raid led to the shooting death of one of the culprits, an Inglewood police officer. A jury returned a "not guilty" verdict for all defendants who completed the trial. It was this scandal, according to the Los Angeles Times, that eventually led to a crackdown on the Klan in California."Ex-Klan Chief Dies After Traffic Row; Knife Fight With Truck Driver Following Collision Proves Fatal for Gus Price, 64." Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1949 The Klan had a chapter in Inglewood as late as October 1931.
People involved
Principals
Fidel and Angela Elduayen, identified contemporaneously as Spanish, although a 1999 report said that they were Basques,Cecilia Rasmussen, "L.A. Then and Now: Klan's Tentacles Once Extended to Southland," Los Angeles Times, May 30, 1999, page 3. The Rasmussen account differed in some respects from the text in this Wikipedia article — for example, she spelled the family name as Elduayer, and she said 35 Klansmen were indicted, not 36; she did not cite the sources for what she wrote. and their children, Bernarda, 13, and Mary, 15. They lived on Pine Avenue, Inglewood, with Mathias Elduayen, Fidel's brother. Medford B. Mosher, Inglewood city constable, killed by a gunshot. Frank Woerner, Inglewood city marshal (also identified as a "traffic cop") the man who killed Mosher and wounded two others. Leonard Ruegg, wounded by Woerner. Walter Mosher, son of Medford B., also wounded. Clyde Vannatta, a 19-year-old volunteer who drove Woerner to the scene of the shooting on the back of his motorcycle. Nicholas Neal, a 17-year-old volunteer who drove Woernor to the scene of the hanging and also supplied the rope.
Defendants
Nathan A. Baker, Kleagle of the KKK, who collapsed and never completed trial."Jury Frees Klansmen; Not Guilty on All Counts; Verdict is Reached After Five Hours; Fifteen Ballots Taken; Inglewood Raiders Pleased; Shake Hands With the Jurymen," Los Angeles Times, August 26, 1922
H.B. Beaver, undertaker, whose chapel was used the night before as a place to plan the raid, where the coroner's inquest was held, and the site of last rites for Medford Mosher.Otis M. Wiles, "Bury Klan Spirit With Constable; Inglewood Citizens Attend Funeral of Slain Man as Friends, Not Klansmen," Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1922, section 1, page 2 William S. Coburn, formerly Grand Goblin of the Klan on the Pacific Coast, who returned from Georgia to face trial. Walter E. Mosher, son of M.B. Mosher. Gus W. Price, King Kleagle of the KKK in California. W.A. Alexander, contractor of Huntington Park. R.D. Aylsworth, engineer of Inglewood. C.J. Brown, real estate man of Venice. L.L. Bryson, druggist of Huntington Park. J.G. Baum, real estate man of Inglewood. Charles Casto, amusement man of Venice. Nathan H. Cherry, surveyor of Inglewood. M.D. Hurlburt, dry cleaner of Bell. William Hall, transfer man of Inglewood. Warren Hall, hauling contractor of Inglewood. J.R. Hamilton, machinist of Huntington Park. Thomas H. Jennings, auto salesman of Inglewood. Frank C. Lemon, cafe man of Bell. Gustav Leonhardt, painting contractor of Venice. Harvey C. Leavitt, motion picture man of Los Angeles. Roy Mears, amusements of Venice. H.A. McCallister, real estate man, Inglewood. William Mitchell or Michel, repair man of Redondo. W.B. Moll, motion pictures of Los Angeles. Leonard Ruegg of Inglewood. E.J. Robichaux, real estate man of Inglewood. Joseph P. Reed, cafe man of Huntington Park. E.E. ReId, repair man of Redondo. W.D. Record, engineer of Inglewood. Earnest M. Schultz of Santa Monica. Thomas E. Truelove, poultryman of Inglewood. Walter Harrison Ulm, motorman of Inglewood. H.A. Waite, garage man of Inglewood. E.M. or F.M. Walton, patrolman of Bell. M.L. Whaley, auto shop of Venice. Russell Williams, motion picture man of Los Angeles. James P. Williams, painter of Culver City.
In the courtroom and behind the scenes
Paul Barksdale D'Orr, chief counsel for the accused. Chief Deputy District Attorney William C. Doran, representing Los Angeles County at the coroner's inquest. Raymond I. Eurney, deputy district attorney R.W. George, foreman of the grand jury that indicted the defendants."Klansmen Indicted; Forty-Three Are Accused; Grand Jury Action Based on the Inglewood Raid; Chiefs Named; Men Will Surrender This Morning, Says Attorney; Will Give Bond," Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1922, section 1, page 1. Superior Court Judge Frederick W. Houser, in charge of the criminal trial. Asa Keyes, deputy district attorney John T. Mulligan, attorney for W.B. Coburn. Frank D. Parent, member of the coroner's jury and later a Superior Court judge. Others on the coroner's jury were George G. Clarken, foreman; F.J. Maher, Fred U.S. Hughes, J.A. Griffith, and S.S. Lee.Warden Woolard, "Roundup of Klansmen Planned Following Confession at Inquest," Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1922, section 1, pages 1 and 2 Clarence J. Reed, foreman of the trial jury. Inglewood Motorcycle Officer Blake B. Shambeau, a witness who said the raid was planned in a KKK meeting but who was not present at the raid itself. Superior Court Judge Willis, presiding over the case in the absence of Judge Houser. Los Angeles County District Attorney Thomas L. WoolwineAlbert Nathan, "Klan Records Show Leader Planned Night Raid; Incriminating Papers to Be Given Woolwine; Documents Covering Ku Klux Plots Will be Presented New Grand Jury to be Drawn Today; Victim of Masked Mob Says He Was Flogged by Klansmen; City Council Acts to Oust Members of Klan; Fresno District Attorney Obtains Evidence Here Against Ku Klux in His County," Los Angeles Times, April 29, 1922, section 1, pages 1 and 2 Arthur B. Yorba, clerk of the trial court.
Chronology
Planning the raid
Police officer Shambeau told a coroner's jury that he had talked with some of Inglewood's leading citizens about the prospective raid several days before the event. Ku Klux Klan official N.A. Baker was in charge of a planning meeting held in the Beaver funeral home on Friday, April 21, 1922, where the meeting started with prayer and then several people took an oath of fealty to the Klan, including Shambeau. It was later said that the Elduayen family were bootleggers who had sold liquor causing the death of one man and the blinding of another. A Los Angeles Examiner reporter testified at a coroner's inquest that the assemblage was told that there was to be "no tar and feathers," by order of "the big boss." Shambeau testified at the trial that the raiders "did not have enough robes to go around" for the raid on some "Mexican's place where rotten booze was made," that Baker ordered white handkerchiefs to be used on automobile radiator caps as identification and that handkerchiefs were also to be used as masks."State Bolsters Case Against 'Night Riders'; Witness Tells of Klan Gathering on Night Preceding Raid to Lay Plans for Attack," Los Angeles Times, August 15, 1922, section 2, pages 1 and 5
The raid
The next evening, Saturday, April 22, 1922, a group of 20 to 25 men from Inglewood, Huntington Park, Los Angeles, Venice, and Redondo Beach assembled at the Titan Garage in Inglewood. They included H.B. Beaver, H.A. Wait, Thomas Jennings and Dr. Ed Campbell, according to Shambeau's testimony. They went to Pine Avenue, where they helped make up a band of 50 to 200 men (the estimates varied), most of them masked, who were gathered near the home of Fidel and Angela Elduayen, their children, Bernarda, 13, and Mary, 15, and Fidel's brother, Mathias. Some entered the house, and others remained in the yard, occupied a barn or guarded the roads. Fidel Elduayen testified to the coroner’s inquest in Spanish that he and Mathias were seized, bound, and threatened with death. They heard shots fired, then they were driven first to the Inglewood jail and then to one in Redondo Beach, where their captors tried to lodge them but were refused by the officials in charge.
In a neighboring house a "Japanese" man, T. Shitara, telephoned Inglewood officials to report the event. His first call, to the "Constable of the town", was unsuccessful. Then he called the City Marshal's office, and Frank Woerner responded aboard a motorcycle that was piloted by a civilian, Clyde Vannatta. Shots were exchanged and one of the Klansmen fell mortally wounded. He was M.B. Mosher, the constable who could not be reached when Shitara called earlier."Eyes of Nation Focused on Trial of Klansmen; Supremacy of Duly Constituted Government Held at Stake; Case Begins Tomorrow," Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1922, section 2, pages 1 and 11"One Held in Night Raid," Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1922, section 1, page 1
Woerner had been driven to the Pine Avenue home from the City Hall by motorcyclist Vannatta; they were greeted by armed men, one of whom, M. B. Mosher, threatened the two with a gun, but Woerner fired first, mortally wounding Mosher and injuring his son, Walter, and another man, Leonard Ruegg.
The two Elduayen girls told reporters and later testified at trial that they were forced to change from their nightgowns with their bedroom door open as the masked men roamed their home. At the first opportunity, they and their mother fled and hid in the alfalfa fields."Klan Leader Halts Trial; Raid Leader Faints as Girl Relates Story; Defendant Sent to Hospital After Illness; Baker's Collapse May Cause Long Delay Former Kleagle Taken to Hospital," Los Angeles Times, August 11, 1922, section 2, pages 1 and 2
Coroner's inquest
A coroner's inquest was held on Monday, April 25, in the same room in Beaver's combination furniture store and funeral home, where, according to the testimony of participant Shambeau, the Inglewood police officer, the KKK action had been planned just four days before.
Included in the testimony was that by Grand Goblin William S. Coburn, who said he knew there were no Klansmen present at the Inglewood raid because he walked through the groups gathered in front of the Elduayen home and gave the "Grand Goblin's call" and no one answered.
Coburn testified that if KKK members or applicants for membership conducted the raid, it was "unofficial." Shambeau testified he had attended another meeting the preceding evening at which the raid was planned. In its verdict, the jury found that an "illegal masked and armed mob, presumably instigated and directed by members of the K.K.K.," caused Mosher's death; it demanded action to punish perpetrators of the crime."Constable Killed in Ku Klux Raid; California Jury Finds That He Was Member of a Masked Mob; Prosecutions May Follow; Grand Goblin Coburn Says if Klan Made the Raid It Was 'Unofficial,' New York Times, April 26, 1922
Mosher was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery on April 26.
Investigation
On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 26, 1922, in the offices of the Ku Klux Klan in the Haas Building at 7th Street and Broadway, Los Angeles, Grand Goblin Coburn refused to hand over to Undersheriff Eugene Biscailuz and Detective Walter Hunter the roster of Ku Klux Klan members. The two officers left but returned with a search warrant and a demand to open up the safe. Coburn declined. The officers called a locksmith and were prepared to crack the safe when Coburn changed his mind and ordered it opened. Inside were money receipts and correspondence. Elsewhere in the office searchers seized two embroidered Klan robes and a file of names.A.M. Rochlen, "Raid Grand Goblin's Office; Young Mosher Is Arrested; Ku Klux Records Are Seized; May Reveal Secrets," Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1922, section I, pages 1 and 3
Indictment