11. Two American mine workers were charged with treason in 1922
In 1921, long-standing grievances between miners and their employers, which drew in hired security companies, state police, federal marshals, and eventually the US Army in West Virginia culminated in an event which became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain. US Army Air Corps airplanes were used in the conflict for reconnaissance. Between fifty and one hundred miners were killed in gun battles with what eventually grew to 30,000 opponents, who had between 10 and thirty killed, and three members of the United States Army lost their lives in the battle. Afterward, 985 miners or supporters were charged in West Virginia with murder, conspiracy, and treason against the state. Two were charged in federal court with treason against the United States.
One of the two in federal court, Walter Allen, was convicted of treason and sentenced to ten years in prison, as well as being fined. He was allowed to remain free on bail while appealing his conviction. While waiting for the case to be heard by the Supreme Court Allen disappeared. William Blizzard, a leader of the United Mine Workers of America, was tried for treason for his part in the affair and acquitted. Of the 985 tried in West Virginia courts, most were acquitted of murder, due to the confusing nature of the battle and the subsequent conflicting testimony, but charges of treason against West Virginia were easier to prove, and some convicted remained in state prisons for years.