Trial of David Amoss

David Amoss was a leader of the Night Riders, a vigilante group of Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee farmers that was an offshoot of the Planters' Protective Association (PPA).

[5] There was a growing dissension among political figures between those militia men who enforced law and order, and those who supported the Night Riders' actions.

He defeated Thomas P. Cook (a rumored Night Rider sympathizer) in the primary and a law-and-order candidate in the general election for the position.

[9] During the month of March 1910, Milton Oliver, a former Night Rider, claimed that David Amoss was one of the seven leaders of the Hopkinsville raid.

[11] In the middle of June, Dr. Amoss was indicted on "violation of the ... Ku Klux Law," which stated that no group of people could "'go forth armed or disguised for the purpose of intimidating or alarming.

[13] On July 30, 1910, Axiom Cooper was shot by the Night Riders' Roy Merrick and Vilas Mitchell while attending Tom Litchfield's barbecue.

[14] Cooper suffered several gunshot wounds in "his chest, back, wrist, and groin" and died the next day.

"[18] Col. Bassett had a right to be suspicious as he was the "commander of the local company of the Kentucky State Guards" that tracked down Dr. Amoss and the rest of the Night Riders in the aftermath of the 1907 Hopkinsville raid.

Speaking out against the Night Riders carried a severe risk that could involve "disappearance and death," like the threats Milton Oliver faced after his 1910 testimony.