The Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America was formed by Robert L. Hill of Winchester, Arkansas, a black tenant farmer.[when?]
The union had also hired lawyers at the state capital and planned to sue landlords for shares allegedly withheld from tenant farmers and sharecroppers.
The Governor of Arkansas, Charles Hillman Brough, led a detachment of federal troops into the county, and hundreds of blacks were arrested.
Other blacks were required to have passes signed by military authorities and attested by a reputable white citizen in order to move about in public.
In the week after the shooting, roving bands of whites and federal troops killed an estimated 100 to 200 blacks in the area.
The NAACP, which had helped fund and commission the defense team, strengthened its reputation for working on behalf of African Americans.