1946 Georgia lynching

The 1946 Georgia lynching was a quadruple killing on July 25, 1946, of two young African-American couples: George W. and Mae Murray Dorsey, and Roger and Dorothy Malcom, in Walton County, the northern part of Georgia in the United States. Tradition says that the murders were committed on the bridge in Walton and Oconee counties between Monroe and Watkinsville, but the killings actually took place on a dirt road in Walton County near the bridge. The case attracted national attention. The FBI investigated in 1946 but was unable to discover sufficient evidence for the US District Attorney to prosecute anyone. New publicity about the case in the 1990s led to a new investigation by the FBI and the state, but the murderers have not been identified or prosecuted.

In July 1946, J. Loy Harrison employed two young African-American couples as sharecroppers on his farm in Walton County, Georgia. They were George W. Dorsey (born November 1917), a veteran of World War II who had been back in the United States less than nine months after having served nearly five years in the Pacific War. He was married to Mae Murray Dorsey (born September 20, 1922), who was then seven months pregnant. The other couple was Roger Malcom (born March 22, 1922) and his wife Dorothy (born July 25, 1926).

On July 11 Roger Malcom had allegedly stabbed Barnette Hester, a white man; Malcom was arrested and held in the county jail in Monroe, Georgia, the county seat. On July 25, Harrison drove Malcom's wife Dorothy and the Dorseys to Monroe, where he personally posted the $600 bail for Roger Malcom to be freed. At the time, Hester was still hospitalized from his wounds.

Harrison then drove with the two couples back to his farm. At 5:30 p.m. that day, he was forced to stop his car at the bridge between Monroe and Watkinsville, where the road was blocked by a gang of 15 to 20 armed white men. According to Loy Harrison:

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