On this day, June 2, in 1855, authorities shot and killed an immigrant in the Portland Rum Riot in which the prohibitionist mayor was later charged with smuggling booze into Maine.
Irish immigrants, who viewed the newly enacted Maine law as a racist attack on their culture, learned that Portland Mayor Neal S. Dow, called the “Napoleon of Temperance,” was stashing a large supply of alcohol for doctors.
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As a mob gathered around the building where the spirits were being held, Dow called in the militia and ordered them to fire into the crowd. One immigrant was killed and seven others were wounded.
Dow was prosecuted for improperly acquiring the booze but acquitted. The episode led to the repeal in 1856 of the Maine law that prohibited the sale and manufacture of alcohol.
— Scott McCabe
