Newport Daily Journal, December 31, 1929
FAIR WARNING TO HALT WAS GIVEN
NEWPORT, DEC. 31—The Coast Guard cutter that fired on the Black Duck last Sunday, killing three men, gave a clear signal for the vessel to stop and surrender according to D. W. Hingle, commander of the Newport Coast Guard Station. The patrol boat opened fire with a machine gun after the Black Duck veered and attempted to flee.
“The loss of life is sad but was unavoidable,” Hingle said in a statement last night. “The laws of the United States must be maintained. The smugglers defied the government officers and took their punishment. They have no one to blame but themselves.”
The Liberal Civic League has asked for further investigation, and questions of negligent homicide have been raised by state residents who charge the Coast Guard with being “out of control” in their pursuit of smugglers.
“This was murder, pure and simple,” said Henry Borges, of the League. “The crew was unarmed. Bullet holes are stitched down the side of the pilot house. There is no evidence that any ‘fair warning’ signal was given.”
The dead are Alfred Biggs and William A. Brady of Harveston, R.I., and Bernardo Rosario of New Bedford, Mass. The sole survivor, Richard Delucca, also of Harveston, is in Newport Hospital, being treated for a gunshot wound to the hand.