"Whereas the Koreans had no weapons at that time, the Japanese had stationed in their colony regular ground forces of one and a half divisions, in addition to a 5,402-man police force in 751 stations and a military police force nearly 8,000 strong..."
-excerpted from March First Independence Movement, Korea Society
As police began losing control of the protesters, they began to fire into crowds and attack civilians, arresting and killing many of the peaceful protesters.
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"[The situation]was much worse that what they had heard. All they could see at the site of the Jeam-ri Church were gray ashes and char-coal black remains of the massacre victims. The stench of the burnt flesh permeated the air and upset their stomach to near vomiting..."
-American Missionary Matti Noble, describing a particularly gruesome happening where the Japanese locked protesters in a church, set fire and shot through windows so no person could escape alive