Police Chief Orville Aderholt
http://www.odmp.org/officer/1066-chief-of-police-orville-frank-aderholt
The strike seemed more hopeless as production returned to the mill so strikers rallied together to protest. On June 7, the union members went to the mill to protest while the night shift was on duty. They were attacked by sheriff’s deputies and sent on their way. Later that night the Gastonia police chief, Orville Aderholt, went to the new NTWU headquarters to demand the strikers hand over their weapons. He and his officers raided the newly built headquarters and tent village without a search warrant. An altercation ensued and the police chief was shot and killed. Two other officers and several strikers were also wounded. Over seventy union organizers and striker were arrested for the murder of Orville Aderholt and eventually all but sixteen were released. Those sixteen strikers and organizers were indicted for murder. They were put on trial in Charlotte, NC and the case received national attention when it was deemed a mistrial.
Ella May Wiggins
On September 14, a group of union members from Bessemer City and other surrounding cities drove to Gastonia for a union meeting. On the way an armed mob jumped out of a car and began shooting. Ella May Wiggins, a well known union organizer, was shot in the chest and died. Five Loray Mill employees were charged for the murder and put on trial in Charlotte, NC. In March 1930, all five were acquitted for the murder of Wiggins. (Weisbord)