16-138 Garand Picture of the Day - Pittsburgh 1968.

[Mark in Rochester]

National Guard clear streets in Pittsburgh during race riot, 1968.

Information

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[Bob Seijas]

In the Newark riot the Guard expended over 10,000 rounds.

[Mark in Rochester]

In the Newark riot the Guard expended over 10,000 rounds.

This unrest came to a head when two white Newark policemen, John DeSimone and Vito Pontrelli, arrested a black cabdriver, John Weerd Smith, for improperly passing them on 15th Avenue.[5] Smith was taken to the 4th Police Precinct, which was across the street from Hayes Homes, a large public housing project. Residents of Hayes Homes saw an incapacitated Smith being dragged into the precinct, and a rumor was started that he had been killed while in police custody (Smith had in fact been moved to a local hospital). Outraged crowds began to destroy public and private property and confronted and attacked the police, causing injuries. In turn there were a few men who were shot dead by police.

The second day saw a reduced intensity from the previous night and there was a chance for calm. Unfortunately, the National Guard had already been called up and entered the city; early in the evening of July 15 a woman named Rebecca Brown was killed in a fusillade of bullets directed at the window of her second floor apartment. This event helped to set off the worst of the fighting. By the sixth day, riots, looting, violence, and destruction ultimately left a total of 16 civilians, 8 suspects, a police officer, and a firefighter dead; 353 civilians, 214 suspects, 67 police officers, 55 firefighters, and 38 military personnel injured; and 689 civilians and 811 suspects arrested. Property damage exceeded $10 million.



In an effort to contain the riots, every evening at 6 p.m. the Bridge Street and Jackson Street Bridges, both of which span the Passaic River between Newark and Harrison, were closed until the next morning.

[Bob Seijas]

A month after I got out, my old unit was sent to Newark, I watched them doing the Berlin Shuffle down the street from my office window. The apartment window incident was occasioned by a formation in the street at which the CO was briefing the troops. A shot rang out and a .22 bullet ricocheted off the pavement near him. He heard where it came from and saw an open window in the apartment building. "Put a round through that window," he shouted. The platoon of 40 guys opened up and the whole front of the building erupted in brick dust. No more shots came from the window.
The death toll was far higher than 16. The Staties were dumping bodies in the river and stuffing them down sewers. My old friends told me it was over 50.

[Bob Seijas]

The State Police were in charge of law enforcement, the Guard was meant to provide security for them. A call came in of a man with a gun at a certain address, and two Troopers responded. My friend Dave and three soldiers accompanied them in a jeep, all carried loaded M1s. The address was a corner bar with a door on each street. The Troopers got out of the car with shotguns and each went in a door. BOOM BOOM BOOM, six shotgun blasts were heard and each Trooper came out the door opposite the one he entered. They got back in the car and everybody left. Dave never knew what happened inside.