The Single Light Bulb

One detail appears again and again in accounts of Hayes Pond: the light.

The rally depended on a single bulb powered by a generator.

As the confrontation intensified, someone shot it out.

Darkness changed everything.

The neat visual center of the Klan rally disappeared.

The crowd became harder to control.

Gunfire rang out.

People moved quickly.

The Klan’s attempt to stage a public spectacle dissolved into confusion.