Malcolm McLeod

Malcolm Gray McLeod (May 29, 1914 – June 3, 1987) was an American law enforcement officer who served as the Sheriff of Robeson County, North Carolina from 1950 to 1978.

He won, and in his early tenure worked closely with District Solicitor Malcolm Buie Seawell to destroy thousands of illicit alcohol distilleries and oversee hundreds of arrests for bootlegging.

[8] His campaign slogan was "Big Man—Big Job" and he ran on a platform of modernization, promising to equip the sheriff's department with radios, improve record keeping, and institute 24-hour operations.

Robeson was a dry county, and bootleggers historically had connections with local law enforcement, financing their political activities in exchange for tolerance of their operations.

Thus, early in his career, he frequently sought the guidance of 9th Solicitorial District Solicitor Malcolm Buie Seawell in his attempts to combat bootlegging.

[12] The crackdowns declined as demand for moonshine diminished due to better job opportunities in the county, the proliferation of legal alcohol, and the growth of the drug trade.

[14] In January 1958 Klan leader James W. "Catfish" Cole began organizing activity in Robeson County meant to intimidate the local Lumbee population.

Cole announced his intention to host a Klan rally near Pembroke, the center of the Lumbee community, to denounce the "mongrelization" of the races.

In the lead up to the rally, media reports raised the possibility of violence between the Klansmen and the Lumbee, who were growing increasingly agitated by the Klan's activities.

McLeod and some of his deputies came to the rally to maintain order, while officers of the North Carolina Highway Patrol waited further up the road to assist in the event violence broke out.

At about 8:15 PM, the few hundred Lumbee exited their cars and surrounded Cole and his approximately 50 Klansmen and began shouting insults at them.

[17] Cole refused to suspend the rally, and over the next few minutes the situation grew tenser as Klansmen and Lumbee brandished firearms at one another.

After a momentary silence, the Lumbees began firing their guns into the air, and the Klansmen broke and fled into the surrounding wilderness.

McLeod's deputies fired two tear gas grenades, and within a few minutes the highway patrol officers arrived to assist them.

The following day a Robeson County grand jury indicted Cole, Martin, and others unknown to the state for inciting a riot.