The "Free Speech and Headlight" received national attention in 1892 for its coverage of the so-called Curve Riot in Memphis. The Curve Riot was not in fact a riot, it was an attack on the People's Grocery Store by a group of undercover white police serving a warrant on the black-owned business. Will Barret, the store's white competitor, had convinced a local court that the People's Grocery was a nuisance. The court ordered the owners arrested. Fearing an attack, supporters of the People's Grocery armed themselves to defend the store. In the ensuing melee, three deputies were wounded. Crying "race riot," other armed whites joined the police and captured over thirty African Americans, including three of the store's owners: Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart.