- A local Sheriff tries to keep the peace as racial strife hits his small Alabama town as tensions boil over when a black man is accused of raping a white woman.
- A small southern town has just been rocked by a tragedy: a young woman has been violently raped. The white town fathers immediately declare that the attacker had to be black, and place the blame on Garth, a young black man. Assuming that the men in white sheets aren't intent on holding a fair and impartial trial, Garth takes to the woods as the Klansmen lynching party hunts him down.—Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>
- After breaking up a group of white locals who are attacking an African American couple for sport, an Atoka County, Alabama, sheriff named Track Bascomb (Lee Marvin) visits landowner Breck Stancill (Richard Burton) to ask if organizers for the upcoming African American voter registration demonstration will be permitted to stay on his property. Sheriff Bascomb reports that townspeople are suspicious of Stancill's liberal beliefs, but Stancill expresses resentment toward the community for imposing their prejudices.
Later that evening, on a nearby country road, a local couple named Bobby and Nancy Poteet have car trouble, and Nancy is raped by an unseen man when Bobby goes to town for a spare tire. Meanwhile, Mayor Hardy Riddle (David Huddleston) leads a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) meeting. Although the Klansmen want to use violence to prevent African Americans from participating in the voter registration demonstration, Hardy discourages murder and church burning. However, the mayor rails against the "Communist" agitators who are coming to town to meddle with local politics. Just then, Hardy receives news that Nancy was raped and the Klansmen plan to take revenge on Willy Washington (Spence Wil-Dee), an African American whom they assume is responsible.
Sometime later, Sheriff Bascomb arrests Washington at a pool hall. Although Washington's friend, Garth (O.J. Simpson), attempts to fight the sheriff, Washington leaves with Bascomb when a gang of rifle-toting Klansmen pull up in a truck; Washington claims that he feels safer in police custody. Later that evening, the Klansmen take their aggression out on Garth and his friend Henry, who is shot dead while Garth gets away.
The next day in jail, Washington tells Bascomb that he is innocent. Meanwhile, Stancill meets his African American friend, Loretta Sykes (Lola Falana), at the bus stop. Loretta has returned from Chicago, Illinois, to visit her ailing grandmother who lives rent-free on Stancill's property, but locals suspect that Loretta is involved with the voter registration demonstration. One day, Loretta is visited by civil rights organizers Rev. Josh Franklin (Robert Porter) and Charles Peck (Gary Catus), who recruit her into the movement. As she shows the men around Stancill's land, she points out a tree where Stancill's grandfather was hung by Klansmen for assisting African Americans.
That night, Garth avenges Henry's murder by disguising himself in a Klansman's robe and shooting the red-robed Grand Wizard dead at a KKK rally.
At the police station the next day, Bascomb evades questions from reporters and learns that Bobby Poteet is leaving town in shame over the violation of his wife by an African American. Later, Bascomb escorts Nancy Poteet from a church service, where she is shunned by the community. The sheriff convinces Stancill to host Nancy at his home so she will be safely removed from town, but Mayor Hardy warns Bascomb that he will not be re-elected sheriff if he continues his alliance with Stancill.
Sometime later, Garth opens fire at the funeral of the Grand Wizard, provoking a gunfight and a car accident where several Klansmen are killed and wounded. Deputy Butt Cutt Cates (Cameron Mitchell) and the Klansmen raid Loretta's home, searching for Garth. Cates detains Loretta for conspiring with "Communists" and punishes her with rape.
Meanwhile, Stancill dines at Bascomb's home and the sheriff warns his friend that his life is at stake if he continues to defy the KKK. When Bascomb later discovers Loretta raped and bleeding to death, he insists that she make a false report of the incident before taking her to the hospital to protect the integrity of his department. Although Loretta tells the doctor that she was violated by a group of African American men, she confesses to Stancill that Bascomb asked her to lie.
Sometime later, at the voter registration demonstration, Garth kills another Klansman with a sniper shot and gets away undetected by hiding in Stancill's jeep. As Stancill drives Loretta home from the hospital, she reports her intention stay in town to prevent other women from being raped and Garth surprises them in the backseat. Garth holds Stancill at gunpoint and claims that African Americans will only achieve equality with an armed revolution, but Loretta says that his violent protests are ineffective. As Garth runs into the woods, he invites Stancill and Loretta to join his fight. Returning home, Stancill discovers that the Klansmen have killed his dog; he is comforted by Nancy and they make love.
That evening, at the police station, Bascomb is held at gunpoint by the Klansmen, including Deputy Cates, who demand access to Willy Washington so they can lynch him. However, a young woman named Mrs. Shaneyfelt (Eve Christopher) shows up to exonerate Washington, claiming that she was with him the night of Nancy's rape, and her Klansman husband attacks her. Bascomb then goes to Garth's home, accusing him of Nancy's rape and the killings of KKK members, and orders Garth to leave town.
Meanwhile, Stancill proposes marriage to Nancy, but the young woman wants to leave Atoka County and Stancill takes her to the bus station. There, the couple is confronted by Cates, but Nancy throws herself at the deputy and Stancill knocks him out before bidding his lover farewell.
Sometime later, Mayor Hardy warns Stancill that the Klansmen will soon go after him, but claims that Stancill can save himself by evicting Loretta and other African Americans who live on his property. When Stancill refuses, Hardy alerts Bascomb to the attack, and the sheriff heads to Bascomb's property. As warning sirens are sounded by Stancill's tenants, Klansmen file from their cars and set fire to the surroundings with torches and burning crosses, but Bascomb announces that Stancill has agreed to leave the county and orders the men to give up their weapons. When Cates removes his hood, Bascomb calls out his intent to arrest the deputy for the rape of Loretta and charges the other men with violating the Constitution. However, Cates fires at Bascomb, prompting a gun battle that leaves Stancill dead.
Garth arrives at the scene and aims his gun at a dying KKK member, but Bascomb prevents him from firing and places him under arrest. While Bascomb radios for help, Cates shoots the sheriff dead and takes over control of the KKK. Cates and the rest of the Klansmen proceed to kill Garth and all of the African Americans on the scene.
In the aftermath of the massacre, the Klansmen have departed. Loretta appears and sets fire to the tree from which Stancill's grandfather was hanged.
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