State of Minnesota issues posthumous pardon to black man in century-old case

Minnesota has issued a posthumous pardon to a black man in a century-old case that became notorious for the lynchings of three other black men.

The state pardons board voted 3-0 Friday to pardon Max Mason in the alleged rape of a 19-year-old white woman. The case traces back to 1920 in Duluth, when Irene Tusken’s male companion alleged that traveling circus workers had raped her at gunpoint. A white mob eventually lynched three men.

Mason was the only man convicted in the case despite doubts by some people back then about evidence. Gov. Tim Walz called the pardon “100 years overdue.”