on East Washington street, though this altercation was not verified. When James left work, he encountered William Burton and James Loomis, two of the city's four black police officers. Burton and Loomis were in plainclothes when they saw James walking and, assuming he was loitering, ordered him to leave town. Rather, James "offended the officers" when he reportedly told them: James told the officers that he had a job, but could not recall the name of the saloon, so they did not believe him. When they threatened to arrest him, James, told them he would leave. However James did not. The next day, Burton and Loomis "found him on the streets" and arrested him for vagrancy. On June 3, he was fined $25 (about $650 in 2018), which he had no means to pay; therefore he was given a jail sentence. His release was set for July 7. James, who had been arrested once in Birmingham for trespassing, but never convicted of any crime, was reportedly a model prisoner, permitted to leave and run jailhouse errands as a "trusty". However, on July 4, about 6:00 p.m., after completing his prison duty for the day – loading a lot of "condemned dogs" – James was given about $0.40 ($10.00 in 2018) and allowed to go get molasses, bread and pie for other prisoners. The police claimed that James left the jail "barefooted." James did not return. It was Independence Day and most of the retail establishments closed at noon. People were celebrating, drinking early and preparing to see fireworks in the evening. James, a teen who had not been exposed to this level of excitement in Alabama, was enticed to the atmosphere. He wandered into "The Levee" – the city's black vice district, on Washington Street between 7th and 10th Streets – which was filled with an assortment of six saloons, prostitutes, gambling, opiates, etc. The area, along with its adjoining "black" areas (i.e. "The Badlands"), was disdained by many whites, which they called a "den of sin," but also for the normalcy at which black people and whites intermingled, socially and sexually: After purchasing the food for the prisoners, James went to Lee's saloon, on Washington Street, between Eighth and Ninth, where he purchased two beers. From that point, and for six hours, James drank and gambled, primarily at "Dandy Jim's Saloon," where he played the piano "all night" while