The Gallup 14 - A True Crime Novel by Gary L. Stuart

The Gallup 14 A TRUE CRIME NOVEL GARY L. STUART When three people were left for dead including the local sheriff, and seven more were wounded during a 1935 riot in Gallup New Mexico, justice had to be served. But striking coal miners and Mexican immigrants were the primary targets of the justice system in a political cover-up. Add in depression-era fear of Communism and high-powered political coercion and you get justice denied. The conviction at trial of the Gallup 14 and their short trip to a hanging noose in a New Mexico prison seemed inevitable. Gary Stuart’s true crime novel, written 65 years after the events, is based on actual court documents, testimony, first-hand accounts, and radio and print coverage. It vividly brings to life the drama, terror, and compassion that rippled throughout the story. The reader sees what happened through the eyes of Mary Ann Shaughnessy and her lawyer boyfriend, Billy Wade. The mass arrests, line-ups, and the highly questionable tactics of the politically pressured authorities form the backdrop to this powerful story of racism, exploitation, and labor politics, and the politically influenced legal system that was charged with meting out justice. While this story happened decades ago, it serves as an uncomfortable reminder of how little race and immigration policies have changed in America. Gary L. Stuart is a lawyer in private practice in Phoenix, Arizona, and a native of Gallup, New Mexico. His family lived through the novel that he wrote.