The contempt of court charge he was convicted of was for disobeying a court injunction to stop "ordering, directing, aiding, assisting, or abetting" the strikes

The contempt of court charge he was convicted of was for disobeying a court injunction to stop "ordering, directing, aiding, assisting, or abetting" the strikes, which had since turned increasingly violent and riotous! That is extremely noteworthy in a time when the courts were much more judicious, and Debs had the clout, influence, and connections expected of a high profile man and former state Congressman! Even overtly violent criminals like Al Capone were never able to be convicted of anything even indirectly related to violence. Also, I did not misspeak when I said locomotive. The rioters, after setting fire to buildings, did literally derail the entire locomotive. And this locomotive had a US mail car. Again you pay too much attention to words. You're completely right that the Union said they didn't object to anything except Pullman cars. They would have also said they don't support setting buildings on fire. Yet, a brief meeting with Debs and off goes his followers to set buildings on fire, derail entire locomotives - including those carrying US mail, and partaking in general hooliganism. This is yet more evidence of why words are utterly irrelevant.