Police dedicate bench to North Carolina man who survived a lynching attempt in 1952

Friday afternoon 86-year-old Lynn Council sat on a newly unveiled black bench in front of the Apex Police Department, as dozens of people, including a police chief, a mayor, a sheriff and state lawmakers lined up to take photos with him.

Under vastly different circumstances 67 years ago, Council has said he was brought to the Police Department after he was arrested for a robbery he did not commit. Later in jail, two deputies took him out to the woods off what is now Ten Ten Road and hanged him from an oak tree that still stands, because he would not confess.

Council survived.

“In a few seconds, Jesus took over,” he told The News & Observer in a June interview.

“We are indebted to you for speaking out and raising awareness of an incident that was all but lost to history,” the plaque on the bench says. “Your courage and resilience has brought a perspective to a time in our history that needed to be acknowledged and remembered.

“It is our sincere hope that those who sit here share conversations of mutual respect and dignity to build a better future for all.”

Apex Police Chief John Letteney apologized to Council in April, saying Sam Bagwell, the police chief in 1952, did not deserve to wear the badge, WRAL reported.

“Today, we take the next step to recognizing the errors of the past by honoring in the present,” Letteney said Friday. “And reaffirming our commitment to our community that these injustices will never happen again.”

Council walks slowly now and speaks softly, barely getting words out. Still, he said things have changed over the years.

“I really appreciate it,” he said. “I love how good y’all are to me.”

Letteney hoped dedicating the bench would bring Council and his family more closure. Council’s three children, two sons and a daughter, attended the ceremony.

“I feel great about it,” said Linwood Council. “I am so glad my dad was honored.”

The newly elected mayor of Apex, Jaques Gilbert, who previously served as a captain with the Apex Police Department, was among those who honored Council.

“I want to officially offer you an apology for what occurred on that day,” he said.

History of North Carolina lynchings

Toby Holleman, a retired minister who wrote a book about the history of Apex, spoke about segregation in the town at the bench’s unveiling. . “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” he said.

Tuskegee University found 3,446 out of 4,745 lynchings in the United States and 86 out of 101 lynchings in North Carolina between between 1882 and 1968 involved black victims , The N&O previously reported.

Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker apologized to Council in June, offering him a photograph of Sheriff Robert Pleasants, who held office in 1952, that had been removed from the Sheriff’s Office walls.

“I cannot change what they did and its effect on your life,” Baker said. “I ask you for your forgiveness.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 6:01 PM.