A primer on Race riot history in America

We define police brutality as a civil rights violation where officers exercise undue or excessive force against a civilian. This includes physical or verbal harassment, physical or mental injury, property damage, and death. The first use of the term police brutality in the American Press was in 1872, when the Chicago Tribune reported the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station. Labor strikes were the first large-scale incidents of police brutality in the United States, some events included the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Pullman Strike of 1894, the Lawrence textile strike of 1912, the Ludlow massacre of 1914, the Great Steel Strike of 1919, and the Hanapepe massacre of 1924.

Soon, police brutality focus shifted to major political and social movements. Think of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, anti-war demonstrations, the war on drugs and the global war on terrorism. In line with that shift of focus, police brutality targeted on minority groups and in particular African Americans. Race riots have been a recurring part of American History, just like protests. There are too many to touch on, but here a few of the most relevant police brutality inspired race riots in American History. Some listed were inspired by police brutality, others were inspired by good old fashioned American racism.

1. Red Summer 1919
Red Summer spanned the entire year of 1919. The year was marked by hundreds of deaths and many casualties across the United States from white supremacist terrorist attacks and the ensuing riots that occurred because of the attacks. Two of the biggest riots of that year were:
A. Washington D.C. 

White military service men responded to the rumored arrest of a black man for the rape of a white woman (similar rumors caused most lynching’s of African American males) with four days of mob violence against black individuals and businesses. They rioted, randomly beat black people on the street, and pulled others off of street cars for attacks. The Police refused to intervene, so the black population fought back. The four white owned local papers, including the Washington Post, fanned the violence with incendiary headlines and calling in one instance for a mobilization of a “clean-up” operation.
President Woodrow Wilson finally mobilized the National Guard to restore order. When the violence ended, 15 people died: 10 white people, including two police officers; and five black people. Fifty people were seriously wounded and another 100 less severely wounded. This was one of the few times in 20th century race riots that white fatalities outnumbered black fatalities.
B. Chicago
Chicago city beaches were segregated back in 1919. Eugene Williams, a black youth, swam into an area customarily used by whites. White males threw rocks at Williams because of his incursion, one hit him on the head and knocked him unconscious, he subsequently drowned. The Chicago police refused to arrest the offending rock throwers, so young black men responded violently. Violence between mobs and gangs of both races lasted thirteen days. Illinois called in a militia force of seven thousand men to restore order. The ending damage was 38 fatalities, including 23 black people and 15 whites. The injured totaled 537, and 1,000 black families were left homeless.
2. Tulsa race massacre aka Black Wall Street massacre 1921
Dick Rowland, a black shoe shiner, was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a white elevator operator. Rowland was taken into custody. Angry local whites gathered outside the courthouse where Rowland was being held. The spread of rumors Rowland had been lynched, alarmed the local black population, some of whom arrived at the courthouse armed. Shots were fired and twelve people were killed: ten white and two black. As news of these deaths spread throughout the city mob violence exploded. White rioters rampaged through the black neighborhood that night and morning, killing men and burning and looting stores and homes, and only around noon the next day did the Oklahoma National Guard troops get control of the situation.
10,000 black people were left homeless, and property damage amounted to more than $1.5 million in real estate and $ 750,000 in personal property (equivalent to $32.25 million in 2019). 39 people died, 26 black and 13 white. There are estimates that the death toll could have been as high as 300.
3. Detroit race riot 1943
Altercations and fights between youth on June 20, 1943, grew into a confrontation between groups of whites and blacks on the long Belle Island Bridge. From there the riot spread into the city. Sailors joined fights against blacks. The riot escalated in the city after a false rumor spread that a mob of whites had thrown an African American mother and her baby into the Detroit River. Blacks looted and destroyed white property as retaliation. Whites looted stores while rioting. The clashes soon escalated to where mobs of whites and blacks were assaulting one another, beating innocent motorists, pedestrians and streetcar passengers, burning cars, destroying storefronts and looting businesses.
The riots lasted for three days and were only suppressed after 6,000 federal troops were ordered into the city to restore peace. 34 people were killed, 25 of them black and most at the hands of the white police force; 433 were wounded, 75% of those black; and they destroyed property valued at $2 million ($27.5 million in 2015 dollars).
4. Democratic National Convention 1968
On August 28, 1968, around 10,000 anti-Vietnam war protestors gathered in Grant Park for a peaceful demonstration. A youthful man lowered the American Flag that was in the park. The police broke through the crowd and began beating the man, while the crowd pelted the police with food, rocks, and chunks of concrete. The police fired tear gas and chased the protestors down the street, beating them with clubs and rifle butts before arresting them. The police sprayed protestors with mace and indiscriminately attacked all who were present, regardless if they were involved in the protest or not. The protest leaders then marched down Michigan Avenue to the Conrad Hilton hotel where many of the democratic convention delegates were staying. The Illinois National Guard guarding the hotel fired tear gas while the police moved in to beat the protestors. The entire event was filmed live on television for 17 minutes.
Ironically, most Americans sided with the police and the city of Chicago in the incident. It is widely believed that the televised incident led to the election of Richard Nixon in 1968.
5. Los Angeles riots 1992
On April 29, 1992, a trial jury acquitted four white officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for usage of excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King, an African American. The King beating had been videotaped and widely viewed on TV broadcasts worldwide. The trial was moved to Simi Valley, a majority white suburb of LA, and the jury was composed of 9 white Americans, one Latina woman, one Asian American woman and one bi-racial man.

This acquittal along with years of racial tension and injustice (In Memoriam of Latasha Harlins) set off a fire keg of anger and rioting pursued. The rioting took place in several areas in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, as thousands of people rioted over a six-day period following the announcement of the verdict. Widespread looting, assault, arson, and murder occurred during the riots. The situation was only resolved and ended after the California National Guard, the United States Military and several Federal law enforcement agencies were deployed to assist local law authority.

By the time the riots ended, 63 people had been killed, 2,383 people injured, over 12,000 had been arrested, and estimates of property damage were over $1 billion, much of which disproportionately affected Koreatown, Los Angeles in which the bulk of the unrest occurred.
6. Ferguson Missouri 2014
Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male, was shot to death during an encounter with Officer Darren Wilson, a white male. As the details of the original shooting emerged, police established curfews and deployed riot squads to maintain order. Along with peaceful protests, there was significant looting and violent unrest across the city. The rioting resulted in 10 members of the public being injured, 6 police officers injured and 321 people arrested.. Officer Wilson was later not indicted by a grand jury.
7. Baltimore 2015
On April 12, 2015, Baltimore Police Department officers arrested Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American. Gray sustained injuries to his neck and spine while in transport in a police vehicle. On April 18, 2015, after Gray’s subsequent coma, the residents of Baltimore protested in front of a police station. Gray died the following day, a week after the arrest. Protests were organized after Gray’s death amid the police department’s continuing inability to adequately explain the events following Gray’s arrest and his injuries. Protest turned to riots. Twenty police officers were injured, 250 people arrested, 285 to 350 businesses damaged, 150 vehicles were set on fire, 60 buildings torched, and 27 drugstores looted. The rioting only ended when Maryland National Guard was deployed and a state of emergency was declared. All six officers charged in the incident either were acquitted or got their charges dropped.