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Patrolman Charles Robins assaulted
Robbins was of only two officers assaulted by an individual, in his case either struck over the head with an iron bar or hit over the head with a brick. He appears only in lists of the injured, three of which provide details of the circumstances. The New York Herald Tribune and Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which listed the injured policemen separately, included the detail that he had been hit by a brick in their listing. The Home News, and the hospital report referenced the iron bar. An iron bar was not a typical weapon during the disorder; bricks were frequently used as weapons. Although injured by a blow by an individual, the hospital record locates the attack “at scene of riot,” suggesting the assault occurred in an encounter between a group of police and a crowd rather than two isolated individuals.
The New York Evening Journal, New York Post, New York American, New York Daily News all listed Robbins among the injured without details of the circumstances. His injury was listed as a “possible fractured skull,” but the hospital record of Robbins treatment at the scene by a doctor from Harlem Hospital recorded only a lacerated scalp.
Robbins was not based in one of Harlem’s two police precincts, but had come to the neighborhood from the 43rd precinct as part of the 6th Emergency Squad, a riot squad.
No one was arrested for assaulting Robins, as was the case in seven of the nine assaults on police.
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This page references:
- “List of Victims," New York Evening Journal, March 20, 1935, 1, 3.
- "Injured," New York Daily News, March 20, 1935, 3
- “List of Casualties in Riots,” New York Post, March 20, 1935, 6.
- "5 dying and Scores Wounded as Race Riots in Harlem Subside," Home News, March 20, 1935 [clipping]
- “1 Dead, 7 shot, 100 Hurt as Harlem Crowds Riot over Boy, 16, and Hearse," New York Herald Tribune, March 20, 1935, 1.
- "Snipers Fire on Police From Harlem Rooftop," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 20, 1935, 1, 2.
- “Riot’s Casualties," New York American, March 21, 1935, 2.
- "Medical Attendances, 19-20 March 1935," Harlem: Mayor's Commission on Conditions (1), Subject Files, Box 167, Folder 5 (Roll 76), Records of Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, 1934-1945 (New York City Municipal Archives).