A riot could have spread beyond the field.

Instead, the confrontation ended quickly enough that the historical memory became one of humiliation rather than massacre.

That outcome should not be mistaken for inevitability.

It was a narrow escape from a much worse story.

The Night Ends — The Legal Story Begins

The confrontation did not end when the field emptied.

Authorities turned toward the people who had organized the rally.

Cole was later arrested and charged with attempting to incite a riot.

A Robeson County grand jury indicted him and others.

The legal proceedings became another stage in the public humiliation of the Klan campaign.