 The trolley lines had been closed before midnight to reduce movement, in hopes of discouraging the mobs and offering some protection to the African-American neighborhoods, as whites were going there and attacking people in their houses, or driving them outside.Alonzo Herndon's barbershop was among the first targets of the white mob, and the fine fittings were destroyed.Individual black men were killed on the steps of the US Post Office and inside the Marion Hotel, where one was chased by a crowd.