This tag was created by Anonymous.
Assaults on Black men (13)
Generalized reports of police violence towards the crowds on Harlem’s streets make it likely that many, if not all, of these assaults were committed by uniformed or plainclothes officers. This is most likely the case in regards to the five men shot, as there is little evidence that Black residents used guns during the disorder, and one shooting occurred in the midst of a clash between police and a crowd and the others after looting began and police shot more indiscriminately at crowds. The white man who assaulted James White was also likely a plainclothes police officer, given that few other whites were in Harlem by around 3:00 AM, when he was assaulted. Although the nature of the assault that left John Hardeman with a fractured skull is not specified, he was assaulted in a “melee at 126th and Seventh Avenue,” which newspaper reports failed to specify resulted from police efforts to move crowds away from 125th Street and Kress’ store.
Other assaults on Blacks are less clearly the work of police. William Brook, Henry Blackwell, and Thomas Suarez, reported as being hit by rocks or bottles may have been caught in attacks on stores or police (or they could have been offering explanations for the cuts to their heads or legs that avoided implicating them in clashes with police). All three men appeared in newspaper lists because an ambulance attended them. Thomas Suarez, who reported being hit by a bottle while walking on the street near his home, on the margins of the disorder, also appeared in the blotter recording individuals aided by police. Arthur Block is reported as having been bitten on his hand, a relatively rare form of assault, and one unlikely to have been used by police officers who carried nightsticks and guns.
The final two assaults on Blacks definitely did not involve police. Fred Campbell reported twice having his car hit by objects thrown by Black crowds as he drove up 7th Avenue to collect the day’s takings from the two barber shops he owned. It is possible that in the dark those who bombarded his car thought Campbell was white. He reported numerous other cars being attacked, all driven by whites; the other vehicles that feature in reports of assaults, two buses, another car and two police vehicles, all had white drivers.