OCOEE, Fla. — People have died fighting to do what millions of citizens did freely on Tuesday.
A white mob unleashed terror on Election Day in West Orange County 100 years ago.
There are varying accounts about exactly what happened in Ocoee, but there is no dispute that one man was lynched and others were killed because Blacks tried to legally vote.
His name was Julius “July” Perry, a prominent businessman who settled in what would become Ocoee. He is also the face of the deadliest day in modern American political history.
READ: Why we produced the Ocoee Massacre story
The brutality linked to his death remains a reminder of how important it is to vote, that too many paid the ultimate price so you could.
READ: Marking 100 years since the Ocoee Massacre: Florida governor declares day of remembrance
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