 After the acquittal of several white men charged with sexually assaulting black women in Monroe, Williams announced to United Press International reporters that he would "meet violence with violence" as a policy.Williams' declaration was quoted on the front page of "The New York Times", and "The Carolina Times" considered it "the biggest civil rights story of 1959".NAACP National chairman Roy Wilkins immediately suspended Williams from his position, but the Monroe organizer won support from numerous NAACP chapters across the country.