This tag was created by Anonymous.  The last update was by Stephen Robertson.

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

Charged with disorderly conduct

The variety of acts encompassed by disorderly conduct fell between being a bystander and a participant in acts of violence and theft, including "offensive, disorderly, threatening, abusive or insulting language, conduct or behavior;" acting to "annoy, disturb, interfere with, obstruct, or be offensive to others;" refusing "to move on when ordered by the police;" and causing a crowd to collect. Possible scenarios might involve acting in a way that police interpreted as indicating an intention to participate in violence, amounting to "disorderly" conduct or behavior—most likely by being parts of crowds in the vicinity of violence.

The large number of those arrested who were ultimately prosecuted for disorderly conduct made clear the indiscriminate nature of the police response. The smallest proportion of those arrested for looting faced that lesser charge (12 of 50, 20%) compared with those arrested for breaking windows (11 of 20, 55%) and assault (8 of 13, 62%) — although given that the basis for the arrest of sixteen of those charged with disorderly conduct (32%) is unknown, that pattern has to be be considered uncertain. Note, the tags below identify only the cases where the charge recorded in the docket book was disorderly conduct. There were additional cases where the initial charge was reduced to disorderly conduct during the legal process.

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