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Harlem in Disorder: A Spatial History of How Racial Violence Changed in 1935

Benjamin Bell shot

Benjamin Bell, a thirty-two-year-old man of unknown race, was shot “when fired upon by some unknown person” outside his home at 73 West 128th Street, according to hospital records. Dr Payne attended Bell at Harlem Hospital at 3:55 AM, so he was likely shot sometime around 3:30 AM. Given that he was shot in front of his home, Bell was likely a spectator rather than a participant in the disorder on Lenox Avenue. He may have been hit by a stray bullet fired by police officers shooting to disperse crowds. Police officers fired their weapons frequently in the hours after midnight. While there were no reports of violence near 128th Street at this time, three other men were injured around West 129th street just a block to the north sometime after 3:00 AM. That violence could have spread down to the area around Bell's home as police pursued people who had scattered down Lenox Avenue.

None of the sources that record the assault on Bell identified his race. His address did not provide clear evidence. The block on which Bell lived included white as well as Black residents.

The hospital record described Bell’s injury as a “gunshot wound in the left thigh” that was serious enough for him to be admitted to Harlem Hospital. The New York American and New York Evening Journal reported simply that he had been shot in the leg. The New York Post more dismissively listed the gunshot wound as “superficial.”

No one was arrested for shooting Bell, as was the case with all of those shot and wounded (Detective Campo’s alleged assailant was shot and killed).

 

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