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Albert Yerber arrested
Although all the press accounts of the incident report that the four men shot at police, there is some doubt about the incident as no guns were found on them when they were arrested. Alston did not appear in court, likely because of his injury, but on March 20 the other three men were charged only with disorderly conduct, the Washington Heights Magistrates Court docket book records, and then found not guilty by Magistrate Ford – hardly lending credence to their involvement in shooting at police.
The press reports contained few details of the shooting, even as they employed a range of dramatic and emotive language - for example, the New York World Telegram reported a “nest” of snipers “trying to pick off” policemen. Stories in the New York World Telegram and Brooklyn Daily Eagle did offer the name of the officer allegedly targeted by Alston and his companions, Patrolman Jerry Brennan of the Morrisiana station, and the same dramatic account that a bullet whistled past his ear as he stood on post at Lenox Ave and 138th Street. Taking cover, he saw the men on the roof of the six-story building at 101 West 138th. Soon after police reinforcements arrived and rushed to the roof to arrest the men. One other story, in the Home News, identified Brennan, but cast him not as the target of the shooters but as one of the police who responded. In a radio car assigned to the area with his partner Patrolman McGrady, Brennan “heard the shots and sped to the scene. At the radio car's approach the four snipers [standing in the doorway] ran to the roof of the building.” This story provides the key detail that no guns were found on Alston and his companions, explaining both the charges brought against them and their acquittal, and giving it some more credibility than other accounts.
Alston’s fall attracted more attention than the shooting
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This page references:
- "5 dying and Scores Wounded as Race Riots in Harlem Subside," Home News, March 20, 1935 [clipping]
- "Snipers Fire on Police From Harlem Rooftop," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 20, 1935, 1, 2.
- Washington Heights Magistrates Court docket book
- "1 Dead, 100 Hurt in Harlem Riot; Snipers Routed, Mobs Rove Area," New York World-Telegram, March 20, 1935 [clipping]