Houston riot of 1917

A mutiny and riot by 156 soldiers from the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army took place on August 23, 1917 in Houston, Texas. The incident occurred within a climate of overt racist hostility from members of the all-white Houston Police Department (HPD) against members of the local black community and black soldiers stationed at Camp Logan. Following an incident where police officers arrested and assaulted black soldiers, many of their comrades mutinied and marched to Houston. There they opened fire and killed eleven civilians (including a minor, Fred E. Winkler) and five policemen. Five soldiers were also killed by friendly-fire or suicide.

In accordance with the military laws of the time, 118 soldiers were tried in three courts-martial. This was the largest murder trial in US history. A total of 110 were convicted, of whom 19 were executed and 63 were sentenced to life imprisonment. Gregg Andrews, author of Thyra J. Edwards: Black Activist in the Global Freedom Struggle, wrote in 2011 that the riot "shook race relations in the city and created conditions that helped to spark a statewide surge of wartime racial activism".

In November 2023, the Army set aside all 110 convictions. It acknowledged the servicemen had not received fair trials in the racist climate of the time period. The Army gave all the men honorable discharges.