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===Notable crimes=== [[Lynching of Garfield King|Garfield King]] ({{circa|1880 β May 25, 1898}}) was a black man [[Lynching|lynched]] by a mob in Salisbury.<ref name=MSA>{{cite web |title=Garfield King ({{circa|1880β1898}}) MSA SC 3520-13747 |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013747/html/13747bio.html |website=Biographical Series |publisher=[[Archives of Maryland]] |access-date=20 June 2021 |date=29 April 2021}}</ref> He was hung next to the courthouse after he reportedly shot Herman Kenney, a 22-year-old white man with a revolver after arguing with him.<ref name=MSA/> In December 1931, Salisbury was the site of another [[Lynching in the United States|lynching of a black man]].<ref name="archives">{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013749/html/13749bio.html |title=Matthew Williams (1908β1931) ''Biographical Series''; Lynched in Salisbury, December 4, 1931|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 8 March 2012|website= Archives of Maryland, MSA SC 3520-13749|publisher= Maryland State Government|access-date= 8 September 2018}}</ref> [[Matthew Williams (laborer)|Matthew Williams]] was accused of murdering his white employer, Daniel J. (DJ) Elliot, at his office on Lake Street. The authorities found D.J. Elliot dead at his desk, his son, James Elliot present, and Matthew Williams incapacitated by several gunshot wounds. After being taken to Peninsula General Hospital, a 300-man white mob threw Williams from a second-floor window to the crowd below, where he was stabbed, tied to a truck and dragged three blocks to the county court house. There they hanged him from a tree, before he had any chance of a trial. The mob paraded Williams' body through the black part of Salisbury for intimidation, and mutilated and burned him. It was the 32nd lynching in Maryland since 1882.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/07/20/history-of-lynchings-in-md-s-eastern-shore/|title=History of Lynchings on Maryland's Eastern Shore|last=Brown|first=DeNeen|date=20 July 2015|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> No one was prosecuted for Williams' killing, as was typical in lynchings.<ref name=":1" /> As of 2007, there was no commemoration of the [[extrajudicial killing]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/may/27/20070527-103640-3676r/?page=all|title=Long-ago lynchings still roil Eastern Shore|newspaper=The Washington Times|access-date=2016-05-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013749/html/13749bio.html|title=Maryland State Archives biographical series|website=Maryland State Archives|access-date=8 July 2020}}</ref> A 2017 memorial for Matthew Williams reignited the call for commemoration of the lynchings, with the known location of Matthew Williams' lynching (Wicomico County Circuit Courthouse lawn) emerging as the focal point. On this site, however, stood a sign some saw as antithetical to the sacred nature of the site as the location of one of the last lynchings in Maryland: a marker commemorating Confederate General [[John H. Winder]]. A 2018 documentary film (''The Sign'')<ref name=":5">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7197044/|title=The Sign (2018) IMDB Page|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> was produced, documenting and unraveling the complexities of this conflict, "exposing deep wounds from the complicated history of the Eastern Shore." In January 2020, Mayor [[Jacob R. Day|Jake Day]] announced the formation of a Lynching Memorial Task Force<ref name=":6">{{cite web |url=https://salisbury.md/01/06/2020/city-to-establish-lynching-memorial-task-force|title=City establishes Lynching Memorial Task Force|date=6 January 2020}}</ref> which was tasked with "coordinating with the Equal Justice Initiative's Community Remembrance Project to facilitate the creation of a permanent monument in honor and solemn remembrance of the three American citizens who lost their lives at the hands of lynch mobs in Wicomico County."<ref name=":7">{{cite web |url=https://salisbury.md/10/19/2020/salisbury-lynching-memorial-task-force-partners-with-equal-justice-initiatives-community-remembrance-project|title=Salisbury Partners with Equal Justice Initiatives Community Remembrance Project|date=19 October 2020}}</ref> On July 5, 2023, a mass shooting occurred during a block party just outside of the city limits, leading to the death of a 14-year-old child and seven other injuries.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2023/07/05/salisbury-mass-shooting-14-year-old-dies-six-others-injured/70382467007/ | title=14-year-old dies, six others injured in Salisbury mass shooting at block party }}</ref> Following an investigation involving the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office and the Salisbury Police Department, the suspected shooter was arrested on September 11.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wmdt.com/2023/09/update-arrest-made-in-fatal-4th-of-july-block-party-shooting-in-salisbury/ | title=UPDATE: Arrest made in fatal block party shooting in Salisbury | date=September 19, 2023 }}</ref>
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