Biography
Ed Johnson was a Black city employee in Selma, Alabama. The Daily Worker of December 12, 1934, page 2, reports that police arrested him on an accusation of attacking a white woman and sought to manufacture evidence through a woman identified as Miss Kynard. According to the newspaper, Kynard refused to accuse Johnson despite a police beating, white workers protested, and the International Labor Defense mobilized local Black residents. The report says police released Johnson and a defense squad of ex-service men escorted him to safety. The newspaper presents the prosecution as a racial frame-up intended to divide workers and weaken the ILD. Exact arrest and release dates, the formal disposition and custody duration are not established.
Daily Worker, December 12, 1934, pages 2-3. Names and circumstances verified against the original page. Exact individual custody dates and duration remain unestablished.
