1922-05-09: (The Maiming of Estrea Jean Gilles — A Nineteen-Year-Old Market Woman Hit by US First Lieutenant Tebbs on L Street in Cap-Haïtien, Suffering Rupt…

1922-05-09: (The Maiming of Estrea Jean Gilles — A Nineteen-Year-Old Market Woman Hit by US First Lieutenant Tebbs on L Street in Cap-Haïtien, Suffering Ruptured Ligaments the Tibia Thrust Through Her Skin the Fibula Fractured, Colonel Van Ordan Testifying Tebbs Must Have Been Driving Reasonably Because the Absence of Outcry Indicated Acceptance — Yet Admitting He Had Several Times Come Near to Striking Pedestrians Due to Their Erratic Movements, the Absence of Outcry Not Necessarily Meaning the Absence of Dissent, Gilles Later Losing Her Left Leg to Amputation): On the night of May 9, 1922, Estrea Jean Gilles, a nineteen-year-old market woman, was struck by a car driven by US First Lieutenant John A. Tebbs as she walked along L Street in Cap-Haïtien. Her body was literally transformed: ruptured ligaments at the left ankle, the tibia thrust through the skin, the fibula fractured, abrasions about each knee, and contusions on her right side. Colonel George Van Ordan testified that Tebbs must have been driving at a reasonable speed because if bystanders believed he was driving recklessly, the accident would have provoked an immediate outcry — acknowledging the street as a site of public dissent. Yet Van Ordan also repeated the discourse of irrationality, admitting he had several times come near to striking pedestrians due to their erratic movements. The absence of outcry did not necessarily mean the absence of dissent — objection to the occupation was not limited to organized protests.