CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY RIOTS (1969 AND 1971)

CONTRIBUTED BY: NICHOLAS IAROSLAVTSEV

The city of Camden, New Jersey was the setting for two deadly race-related riots on September 2nd, 1969, and August 20th, 1971. Both riots were in response to alleged police brutality or murder, the victims being an unidentified young black girl, who was beaten by a white police officer in 1969, and Rafael Rodriguez Gonzales, a Puerto Rican motorist who was beaten and killed by other white officers in 1971. Protestors called for the punishment of the officers responsible; however, in both instances, those responsible never faced full justice.

At the time of the riots, the city of Camden was facing economic depression and rapid de-industrialization. Fifty years earlier, in the early years of the 20th century, the exact opposite was occurring, where Camden underwent a great population boom in response to industrial growth and job availability. Many of the newcomers were Southern blacks.

While this growth stagnated in the 1930s due to the Great Depression, it skyrocketed in the 1940s after the United States entered World War II. At this time, Camden was home of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, the largest shipyard in the world, as well as Campbell’s Soup and the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), all of which greatly contributed to the war effort.

After the city’s economic peak in the early 1950s, Camden’s economy began to decline, as did many other “Rust Belt” cities. With the country’s decreased need for steel, and jobs moving south, Camden’s employment rate sunk. As jobs moved out of Camden, so did its middle class, mostly white residents, as the city saw a record loss in population in the 1950s. The poor including many African Americans, stayed.  As targets of a long history of job and housing discrimination, they had little choice. Crime and violence rose, exacerbating preexisting racial tensions and leading to the two race riots in Camden.

The first riot started on September 2nd, 1969, in response to rumors of  a white police officer beating a black child. That night, approximately 300 enraged Camden residents gathered outside of Cooper University Hospital where a rally began. A sniper then shot into the crowd, killing 15-year-old Rose McDonald and officer Rand Chandler. The killer was never identified, and for the next week, the riot continued, causing greater destruction in the already declining redlined district of Camden.

After the initial riot, the city was at relative peace for two years until on July 30th, 1971, when white police officers Gary Miller and Warren Worrel beat and killed, Rafael Rodriguez Gonzales (who identified himself to the police as Horacio Jimenez), a citizen of Camden with a Puerto Rican background. The city’s Hispanic population called for immediate justice, and for the suspension of the two officers responsible. When the city’s mayor, Joseph M. Nardi, took no action against the officers, another riot erupted.

Starting on August 20th, angered Hispanics and other Camden residents took to the streets, demanding justice for the unprovoked murder. The riot produced 15 fires, 87 injuries, 300 arrests, and one death, prompting mayor Nardi to finally take action against the officers responsible. Initially the officers were only charged with battery, but after much public pressure, they were charged with murder. The jury responsible for their fate, however, acquitted the officers, charging them both with only manslaughter.

ASBURY PARK RACE RIOT (1970)

 CONTRIBUTED BY: MARITZA FERNANDEZ

Asbury Park, New Jersey’s West Side district—predominantly black and housing 40% of the town’s permanent population—was consumed by rioting from July 4 to July 10 in 1970. At the time of the riot, 30% of the population, 17,000 people approximately, were African American. The town’s huge tourist-resort industry brought the population to 80,000 annually and employed a large portion of African Americans. However, over time, jobs were increasingly given to white youth from surrounding areas instead of local black youth, creating an unemployment crisis similar to many other cities at the time. This plus few recreational opportunities and poor housing conditions sparked the violence in 1970.

On July 4, a group of black youth broke windows after a late dance at the West Side Community Center; minor damage and youthful boredom quickly turned to fire bombs and looting. Eventually 180 plus people, including 15 New Jersey state troopers, were injured and 46 people were admitted to the hospital with gun shot wounds by the afternoon of July 8. When asked why so many people were shot, State Police Spokesman Sergeant Joseph Kolbus said that officers had only fired their weapons warnings upwards and the source of so many wounds was unknown. One hundred sixty-seven arrests were made. The entire west side neighborhood, especially the shopping-business section, was destroyed at an estimated cost of $5,600,000.

Mayor Joseph F. Mattice, an Asbury lawyer, council member, and judge, ordered a curfew from 8:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. starting on July 6, declared a state of emergency, and summoned the New Jersey National Guard. None of these precautions managed to save the properties being destroyed or the people being hurt. By July 7, the damage was so extensive that city officials were ready to compromise, and on that day, a list of twenty demands including employment for black youth and appointment of black people on the Board of Education was sent to the city by African American representatives. On July 8, city officials, representatives from New Jersey’s Governor William Cahill, and local black leaders such as Ermon K. Jones, the local NAACP President, met in a conference. In order to cope with the destruction and displacement occurring during the rioting, the community created “Citizen Peace Patrols,” a group that would walk the streets encouraging people to observe the curfew.  They also took in the temporarily homeless.

On July 10, the riot ended. State troopers and National Guardsmen left the West Side, but remained in town. Another conference was called between the Mayor, his council and West Side leaders including Monmouth Community Action Program (MCAP) Executive Director Joseph E. Taylor and West side spokesman, William Hamm, both African American. After the meeting, Governor Cahill requested that President Nixon declare the West side a major disaster area but Nixon refused his request.

FERGUSON RIOT AND FERGUSON UNREST (2014-2015)

 CONTRIBUTED BY: AUSTIN HSU

The Ferguson Unrest and Ferguson Riots were a series of several riots and protest triggered by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American, in the city of Ferguson, Missouri, U.S. by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, on August 9th, 2014.  Exact details on the incident remain uncertain and continue to be disputed. Some accounts report that Brown made no threatening movements towards the officers while others state that Brown charged at Wilson and attempted to take Wilson’s firearm. The police claimed that Brown was a suspect in a nearby store robbery and that the items had been spotted in his possession, prompting their action.  Some witnesses said that Brown put his hands up and others said that he ran for his life.  The conflicting accounts were the subject of much controversy in the following days.  Several peaceful protests occurred in addition to incidents of looting and violent unrest.  In anticipation of violence, a curfew was established in the area and riot squads were deployed.

Multiple investigations followed in the wake of the incident. St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch began a criminal investigation into whether or not the use of lethal force was justified.  U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.investigated if Brown’s civil rights had been violated; Holder attempted to determine if Wilson apprehended Brown mainly due to his race.  Additionally, federal investigators delved into the records of the Ferguson Police Department in an effort to determine if there were recurring issues of excessive force, discrimination, and other such improper behavior.

A grand jury was convened to decide if Officer Wilson should be charged with any crimes based on the results of the investigations.  It took multiple months to reach a decision and during this time tensions in Ferguson continued to rise.  Multiple protests occurred with escalating levels of violence in police response.  Tears gas was used in combination with rubber bullets, smoke bombs, and flash grenades to disperse crowds of protesters.  Several media reporters on the scene at the time were similarly tear gassed and there are some reports of attempts by the police to take down their cameras and suppress coverage.

The unrest reached a breaking point when on November 24, 2014, the grand jury reached the decision to not indict Wilson on any criminal charges.  Many of those waiting outside the Ferguson Police Department grew violent and the situation intensified.  Multiple buildings were torched and protesters hurled rocks at parked police cars.  This continued into the following day when Missouri Governor Jay Nixon deployed the National Guard and reinforced law enforcement presence in the area, effectively bringing the protests to a stop.

Several more protests occurred in the following months and investigations continued into the Ferguson police department.  The Justice Department issued that Ferguson revamp its criminal justice system.  Shortly after, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson stepped down.