Matthew Bullock

Matthew Bullock was an American accused of inciting a riot, who fled to Canada and became a cause célèbre in the early 1920s.

Originally from Norlina, North Carolina, Bullock's brother Plummer attempted to return 10 cents worth of apples, which he claimed were bad. The storekeeper refused the request, and an argument broke out which escalated to an exchange of threats between the two men. Later that evening, a group of whites confronted a group of blacks. Gunfire was exchanged, but no one was hurt. While both Bullock brothers claimed to have been several miles away from these events, they were charged with inciting a riot and Matthew Bullock was charged with intent to murder.

The next day Plummer was arrested and imprisoned in the local jail. The following morning a mob stormed the jail and lynched Plummer, and another black man named Alfred Williams. Matthew Bullock fled town, and eventually made it to Canada. There he settled in Hamilton, Ontario working in the construction industry.

When he was located in Canada in 1922 his extradition was demanded, and Bullock was imprisoned in the Hamilton jail for immigration violations. In Canada he became a cause celebre as activists insisted that he would not receive a fair trial due to his race if extradited to North Carolina, and could face the same fate as his brother. The campaign for his release was led by the congregation of St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church (In 1937 St. Paul's was renamed Stewart Memorial Church), Rev. J. D. Howell and Asst. pastor John Christie Holland. [1] Also very involved was the newspaper The Globe which gave extensive coverage to the case. There were five editorials about the case in the New York Times.[2] In the United States the NAACP campaigned on Bullock's behalf, but the white residents of Norlina circulated a petition demanding his extradition. North Carolina Governor Cameron A. Morrison pressured the State Department to have Bullock returned to face trial.

On January 26, 1922 Charles Stewart, the Canadian minister of the interior, announced that Bullock would be released from detention in Hamilton, and that his illegal entry into Canada would be forgiven due to his exemplary behaviour while living in Canada. Only a few weeks later, however, the Americans reiterated their demands for extradition and Bullock was again arrested. The judge in Bullock's extradition hearing, Colin George Snider, demanded that prima facie evidence of Bullock's guilt be presented before he would be extradited.[2] Since almost all the evidence was eye witness accounts, this would have forced the government of North Carolina to go to considerable expense transporting witnesses to Hamilton. Governor Morrison rejected this, and the Canadian judge released Bullock.