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William Ken assaulted
When this alleged assault took place was not reported. Crowds had arrived on this block of Lenox Avenue north of 125th Street by 11:30 PM and remained for several hours. Four other assaults allegedly occurred in the area between midnight and 2:00 AM, suggesting crowds on the street that could have targeted Ken in that period. The MCCH business survey undertaken after the disorder described the business as a bar and grill, so Ken may have been arriving to start a night shift. If so, the alleged assault most likely took place around midnight. Ken lived in East Harlem, at 2085 Lexington Avenue, so would not have encountered signs of the disorder until he reached the vicinity of Lenox Avenue.
The only evidence of this attack wa a brief account in the New York Evening Journal, a publication that focused more of its reporting on violence against whites than any other newspaper. In all, the New York Evening Journal and New York Post reported six assaults on whites that appeared in no other sources. The story presented Ken as an example of a particular group of white victims of violence, “those regularly employed in Harlem establishments.” The label implied indiscriminate racial violence. To the contrary, given the grievances of residents regarding the failure of white businesses to hire Black staff, whites who worked in Harlem like Ken seemed to be the very likely targets of violence.