Third Night of Rioting in Harlem

July 21, 1964 - Violence flared in Harlem for the third straight night as gangs of Negro youths clashed with the police. By 3 a.m. today, at least 20 persons had been arrested and 17 injured, including 3 policemen.

In the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, a Congress of Racial Equality rally held last night to protest the killing of a 15-year-old Negro youth flared into an angry demonstration after the audience rejected the CORE leaders’ appeals that they go home.

About 1,000 Negroes gathered at Fulton Street. and Nostrand Avenue shouting “Killer cops” at the 20 men assigned to the scene. When bottles began raining on the police, a call was sent out for 40 additional policemen.

At least three persons were arrested and one person was injured in the outbreak, which appeared to be contained by 2:30 a.m., an hour and 15 minutes after it started.

In Harlem, at least 500 policemen patrolled the streets.

The police occasionally fired volleys into the air to bring restive crowds under control. On other occasions, single shots were fired — once when a Housing Authority patrolman, Stelson Welch, was attacked by two men he caught looting a pawnshop, and again while another crowd was being dispersed.

The police reported five arrests early today of persons breaking into shops and looting. The arrests were made by Transit Authority patrolmen on special duty with the police department.

The three injured policemen suffered cuts and bruises when they were struck by bottles and bricks. The three were Patrolmen Thomas Cormican, Arthur Tragele, and Lowell Lavine.

Six Negroes were injured early today at Sam’s Bar, 2433 Eighth Avenue. Bricks and debris had been thrown from the roofs in the area, bringing several squad cars to the scene. When the police attempted to clear out the bar, punches and shoves were exchanged. Shots were fired through the window of the bar.

After the bar had been cleared, groups of angry Negroes stood outside shouting threats at the police. They were pushed south on Eighth Avenue toward 125th Street by members of the tactical patrol force, who arrived on the scene in three buses.

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