Biography
Black defendant convicted in the racially asymmetric prosecutions following the June 1943 Detroit race riot — three days of white-mob violence against Black neighborhoods that killed 25 Black residents and 9 whites. President Roosevelt invoked the Insurrection Act and deployed federal troops to restore order. Of the 1,800 arrests that followed, 85% were of Black residents; nearly all rioting and assault prosecutions targeted Black defendants while white attackers were largely uncharged. Lyons was convicted of "rioting" in a trial where more than 20 Black witnesses testified for the defense but two of his three Black jurors were excused. Sentenced to 4-5 years.
