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

Preparing for the grand jury on March 20

While the men and women police had arrested were appearing in Harlem's magistrates courts, downtown District Attorney William Dodge announced that he was beginning a grand jury investigation of the events of the previous night. Mayor La Guardia had telephoned Dodge during the night to request an immediate investigation to identify and take action against those responsible for the violence. By the time Dodge spoke to reporters, before the grand jury had been convened, he had already determined who was to blame: Communists.

I will immediately present to the Grand Jury the evidence I have procured in connection with the riot. My purpose in presenting the matter at once is to let the Communists know that they cannot come into this country and upset our laws. From my information, Communists distributed literature and took an active part in the rioting.

While Dodge wanted action that day, the police and other witnesses needed to give testimony before the grand jury were involved in the legal proceedings uptown in the magistrates courts. Their appearance downtown would have to wait until the next day. Assistant District Attorney Saul Price, assigned by Dodge to present the evidence to the grand jury, told reporters he expected to question around eighty witnesses, fifty police officers, and thirty Harlem residents to whom he had sent subpoenas.

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