July 25, 1964 - A race riot sparked by the arrest of a Negro at a street dance in Rochester, N.Y., flared out of control early today. The police said at least 1,000 Negroes and whites were involved.
At least 500 policemen were rushed to the scene of the rioting. But the melee became so intense that they withdrew from the center of it and established a perimeter defense to contain it.
Rochester police said the situation was “definitely out of control and critical.”
Scores of persons were said to have been injured, including some policemen.
The arrest of the Negro for disorderly conduct triggered a major clash between Negroes and policemen. Word of the incident caused a number of whites to rush into the area and join in the street fighting.
The disorders spread over a 50-block area. At the height, at least a half-dozen police cars were overturned. The personal automobile of Rochester Police Chief William Lombard was rolled over and burned.
At least a dozen ambulances were sent into the area where the violence erupted. A number of stores were vandalized, and one witness said several liquor stores and pharmacies were “stripped to the walls.”
The scene of the trouble was the Joseph Avenue area, a predominantly Negro neighborhood. The area has been likened by Rochester residents to New York City’s Harlem. It is marked by a high rate of crime, a narcotics problem, unemployment, decaying tenements, and inferior schools.
There are approximately 35,000 Negroes among the more than 318,000 residents of this city near Lake Ontario.
Race relations in the city were said to have been tense the last few months following two incidents.
The first, early last year, was the arrest of 17 Black Muslims for allegedly assaulting a detail of policemen who entered a Muslim rally. Negro leaders said the alleged attacks on the policemen were justified because the police had no cause to “bust into” the meeting.
The second incident took place in May at Rochester’s airport, where Dick Gregory, the Negro comedian, and about 20 Negro leaders were refused service.
Mr. Gregory was being seen off at the airport by the leaders after he had addressed a civil rights rally in the city. The plane was late, and he asked the leaders if he could buy them a drink. When he walked into the bar with them, he was refused service.
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