In May 1968, a traffic stop of a Black schoolteacher, Charles Thomas, turned violent, leading to a Louisville police officer's suspension, firing, then reinstatement. That reinstatement touched off days of civil unrest after a peaceful rally at 28th and Greenwood in the Parkland neighborhood, and the National Guard was called in to restore peace. Six Black Americans later known as the Black Six were scapegoated and falsely charged with conspiracy in connection with the unrest, and they also faced accusations of planning to blow up oil refineries in the West End and destroy private property. They were Ruth Bryant, James Cortez, Walter T. 'Pete' Cosby, Samuel Hawkins, Manfred Reid, and Robert 'Kuyu' Sims. Some of them barely knew each other, lost their livelihoods, and suffered irreparable harm to their reputations. In 1970, Judge S. Rush Nicholson directed a verdict of acquittal because of a lack of evidence and threw the case out of Criminal Court 2 on Congress Alley. In 2022, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer issued an apology on behalf of the city to members of the Black Six and their families for the harm inflicted upon them.
