Judge Used 2 Secret Tactics to Sway 1967 Baltimore Council Race
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 9
Judge Used 2 Secret Tactics to Sway 1967 Baltimore Council Race
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 9
Summary
A judge who advised Clement J. Prucha and Joseph V. Mach later said he used two unreported, last-minute tactics to influence Baltimore’s 1967 Second City Council District election.
From midnight to 6 a.m. over the final four nights, he said, deep-voiced Black callers phoned white liberals—about 20% of the district—with racist threats designed to suppress votes for the Black slate.
On the Sunday before the election, he also said he hired young Black men to smash windows at Mach’s bar and paint “Black Power,” aiming to drive Czech voters to the polls in defense of the neighborhood.
Prucha and Mach won four-year terms alongside Robert L. Douglass, and the account is presented as a historical example of how lies, intimidation and staged provocation can shape elections.