June 23, 1964 - Negroes and whites clashed on the beach and on the streets today in civil rights demonstrations in St. Augustine, Fla.
During the third straight day of protests on the beach, two women attacked praying demonstrators.
Hours later, a jeering crowd of about 70 white men and women met 80 integration marchers at the Slave Market square. One white youth broke through police lines, grabbed a white woman marcher, and attempted to pull her away.
Another white spat in the face of a Negro marcher. They were both arrested.
Earlier, more than 50 integrationists arrived at the beach in a motorcade. They formed a line and were escorted to the water by an equal number of state troopers, conservation officers, and local policemen.
They were met by a group of white men and youths standing shoulder to shoulder about 20 feet out from the water’s edge. The integrationists, led by a white clergyman, knelt in the surf and began to pray.
The segregationists jeered and splashed water on the kneeling men, women, and children. Then two women broke suddenly from the ranks of spectators and attacked a praying woman.
State troopers, wading in the surf in their uniforms, stepped in quickly and pulled the women apart. The two assailants were taken to jail.
Dr. Martin Luther King, whose Southern Christian Leadership Conference is leading the attack on St. Augustine’s racial barriers, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
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