On May 12, 1970, a race riot broke out in Augusta, Georgia, following the death of 16-year-old Charles Oatman, a Black teenager who died under suspicious circumstances in the county jail. Community outrage surged after it was revealed that Oatman had been beaten and tortured by fellow inmates while jailers failed to intervene. That night, peaceful protests turned violent, and clashes erupted between Black residents and police. Six Black men were killed — five of them by law enforcement officers using shotguns. Over 60 people were injured. The incident remains one of the deadliest episodes of racial unrest in the American South during the civil rights era.
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