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611:. Many residents abandoned their houses after leaving, as the massive number of people selling their property resulted in people being unable to sell them (or at massively reduced prices). After leaving, since the owners did not want to live there anymore but could not sell, they sometimes let them fall into
487:, New Jersey Park Police, who had jurisdiction over the park, declared the meeting unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. Some reported that the police dismissively referred to the gatherers as "boys" in urging them to leave the park, which was taken as racially inflammatory and may have led to anger.
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then. Tensions remained high that summer through the night of Friday, July 14 when a fight broke out at a local diner, The White Star. Afterwards, about 40 young black men left the diner and marched back to their housing project in the West End section of
Plainfield. They vented their anger along the
907:
Bechir
Kenzari, Architecture and Violence (2011) at 251 ("The Plainfield riots were extraordinarily violent, in part because a break-in at the Plainfield Machine Company, a small manufacturer of military-style M1 carbines, resulted in the informal distribution on the street. In one incident, a fire
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More than 100 people had been arrested for looting and rioting during the disturbance. Officer
Gleason was the only person killed during the riot and in December 1968, a jury convicted two people, a man and a woman, of murder in his death. They were both sentenced to life imprisonment. Seven others
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for the civilian market. The stolen guns were passed out to the men on the streets of
Plainfield that very night. The police were anxious because of the large number of guns now on the streets and the Plainfield Fire Department Station was under constant gunfire for five hours. The bullet holes in
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Looking down W. Third Street in
Plainfield, an area that was under siege during 1967 riots. 50-year anniversary of the riots in Plainfield during the summer of 1967 which left one policeman dead, nearly 50 residents hurt and more than 100 arrested after riots broke out following a fight in the West
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Police tried to arrange a truce and have residents turn in the stolen carbines. Black residents felt that having the guns in the community kept the police at bay and that they now had power over the police. When none of the stolen firearms were returned, the area was cordoned off and 300 heavily
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was brewing. Police
Officer John Gleason placed himself between the two groups and the Pagan motorcycle gang left. The remaining crowd refused to disperse and Officer Gleason became surrounded by the crowd which began to threaten him and close in on him. Officer Gleason fired a shot and wounded
476:" who did not live in Plainfield came into the city to provoke violence and to "rile up" the community. Some were white men and some were black men and the hatred they fanned was infectious. Rioting and looting increased and
558:
Dozens of black residents later filed suit against the government claiming that their constitutional rights had been violated during the search for the stolen carbines. Even several weeks after the riot, the local police and
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and
National Guardsmen started a house-to-house search for the stolen weapons. After about an hour and a half, with 66 homes searched, the operation was called off. The police felt that since Governor Hughes had declared a
508:
Bobby Lee
Williams. When the officer tried to leave the area to get help, he was overtaken by a mob and was beaten with a steel grocery store cart, stomped and eventually shot and killed with his own service revolver.
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an arms factory was broken into and 46 automatic weapons were stolen. The
Plainfield Machine Company was a small manufacturing company owned by William Haas and William Storck that, among other things, produced
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The crowd broke up and reformed in the West End section of
Plainfield where widespread rioting started again. The city police were caught off guard and did not respond quickly enough to quell the disorder.
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were thrown at fire trucks responding to calls. Police from surrounding jurisdictions were called in and the crowds finally dispersed when a heavy rain started to fall early Sunday morning.
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began protesting and rioting in Newark in 1967, the Plainfield riots began. Plainfield is located about 18 miles southwest of Newark, and about a third of Plainfield's 48,000 citizen were
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There's no visible memorial mark around the spot where Officer John Gleason was killed, across from the Elmwood Grades Projects. But there are signs of hope. The people ...
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On Sunday afternoon several hundred people gathered at Green Brook Park to hear the local Director of Human Relations talk about the situation in the city. The
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In the summer of 1967, Plainfield, New Jersey, and scores of other US cities exploded in racial violence. Forty years later, the impact is still palpable.
623:. It remains one of the poorest urban areas in the state with a 16 percent poverty rate including over 7 percent having an income less than 50 percent of
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of the riots, and many of the burned and looted businesses remained vacant for over four decades. Several residents decamped for neighboring towns like
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In July 2017, the Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition held a memorial event to discuss and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the rebellion.
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Later that evening a white police officer, John Gleason, was manning a checkpoint. Members of the white motorcycle gang known as the
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were still looking for the stolen weapons. No arrests had been made in the theft and only a few of the guns had been recovered.
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station sustained gunfire for five hours before New Jersey National Guardsmen in armored personnel carriers broke the siege.")
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in 2017 as an accounting of the Plainfield riots from his perspective as a black teenager living in the city at the time.
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1072:"National Black Theatre's 2022-23 Season Features Co-Productions With New Group, Rattlestick, Ars Nova | Playbill"
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On Government Operations Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, United States Congress Senate Committee (1967).
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Playwright TyLie Shider has used the events of 1967 Plainfield as a backdrop for some of his work, including
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entered the area and a confrontation between a large group of young black men and the white members of the
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the brick facade of the building remain to this day. Finally, New Jersey National Guardsmen, in
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1127:, March 1, 1968. Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
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On Saturday night trouble started again. Many long time residents of Plainfield claimed that "
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One of the many race riots that swept cities in the U.S. during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967"
1135:, various news articles, July 15–23, 1967, Aug. 5, Aug. 10, Sept. 9, 1967 and Dec. 25, 1968.
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The White Star Diner, which still stands today, was depicted by artist Casey Ruble in 2015.
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Hearings before the United States Senate Committee on Government Operations 90th Congress
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424:". This riot was a series of racially charged violent disturbances that occurred in
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and Andrew M. Goodman, "Plainfield Burning: Black Rebellion in the Suburban North,"
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997:"Commemoration of Plainfield Rebellion's 50th Anniversary Planned for Saturday"
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at police cars. When the local police showed up in force, the group dispersed.
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828:"50 years in Plainfield's history: From devastating riots to long-awaited ..."
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Binger, rew; Griffin-Quick, Deonté; Shider, TyLie (June 13, 2022).
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1125:,The Report of The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders
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132:
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Author and Plainfield native Isaiah Tremaine published the book
1105:"3 Black Theatremakers at Play (and at Work) in NJ's ArtYard"
850:"PHOTOS: A new beginning in Plainfield, 50 years after riots"
144:
1086:"Premiere Stages at Kean University Announces 2022 Season"
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Like many cities, Plainfield suffered a decline from the
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troops and state police could be pulled out of the city.
675:
List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
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By July 21, things had calmed down to the point where
768:""They said they'd rather die here than in Vietnam.""
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The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders
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that swept cities in the United States during the "
1047:"Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition Public Group"
494:
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646:Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family.
46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
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799:"Plainfield Riots Remembered 40 Years Later"
251:
1186:African-American riots in the United States
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619:. Many of the houses were also turned into
567:were acquitted and one case was declared a
244:
230:
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77:Learn how and when to remove this message
1196:Crime in the New York metropolitan area
1145:, vol. 33 (May 2007), pp. 568–601.
920:"Business Fled After the Riots of 1967"
511:
1201:Riots and civil disorder in New Jersey
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878:
615:. After a while many of them ended up
1206:July 1967 events in the United States
942:"Recalling the 1967 Plainfield riots"
922:. Bridgewater New Jersey Courier-News
881:"Riot and Reunion: Forty Years Later"
225:
1022:"Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition"
178:Rioters, residents of Plainfield, NJ
18:
13:
543:, no search warrants were needed.
457:way by smashing store windows and
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1191:Urban decay in the United States
1171:1967 crimes in the United States
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918:MacDonald, Lee (15 July 1987).
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495:Murder of Officer John Gleason
183:Plainfield police department,
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1151:news articles, July 17, 1967.
786:Paper collage. 6 ½ x 8 inches
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1143:Journal of Urban History
254:Long, hot summer of 1967
32:This article includes a
536:New Jersey State Police
422:Long Hot Summer of 1967
306:Minneapolis disturbance
185:New Jersey State Police
99:Long Hot Summer of 1967
61:more precise citations.
1181:Plainfield, New Jersey
741:"Casey Ruble: Artwork"
669:Cambridge riot of 1967
530:relieved the station.
122:Plainfield, New Jersey
971:Isaiah Tremaine Books
432:, which mirrored the
103:Civil Rights Movement
92:1967 Plainfield riots
766:Casey Ruble (2015).
512:Middlesex arms theft
448:Two days after some
946:Mycentraljersey.com
854:Mycentraljersey.com
704:. pp. 952–953.
1166:1967 in New Jersey
1132:The New York Times
1090:NewJerseyStage.com
621:multi family homes
541:State of Emergency
386:Riviera Beach riot
311:New York City Riot
34:list of references
663:1967 Newark riots
657:1967 Detroit riot
478:Molotov cocktails
474:outside agitators
454:African Americans
450:African Americans
434:1967 Newark riots
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977:on 30 March 2018
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975:the original
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867:End, the ...
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485:Union County
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361:Saginaw riot
346:Detroit riot
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316:Newark riots
296:Buffalo riot
271:Boston riots
159:
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53:Please help
45:
1001:Tapinto.net
720:Google Maps
671:in Maryland
659:in Michigan
613:foreclosure
609:Bridgewater
523:M1 carbines
376:Albina Riot
336:Toledo Riot
281:Tampa riots
155:Resulted in
67:August 2008
59:introducing
1176:1967 riots
1160:Categories
885:The Nation
681:References
444:Background
436:in nearby
430:New Jersey
426:Plainfield
418:race riots
301:Cairo riot
200:Casualties
605:Westfield
547:Aftermath
518:Middlesex
161:Aftermath
97:Part of "
1051:Facebook
651:See also
617:derelict
597:Watchung
569:mistrial
468:The riot
213:Arrested
205:Death(s)
141:shootout
117:Location
926:18 June
168:Parties
149:looting
133:Rioting
129:Methods
55:improve
1056:2 June
1031:2 June
1006:2 June
981:2 June
951:2 June
890:2 June
860:2 June
834:2 June
809:2 June
780:2 June
751:2 June
725:2 June
601:Warren
589:Edison
585:stigma
579:Legacy
534:armed
505:Pagans
501:Pagans
438:Newark
771:(JPG)
145:arson
40:, or
1058:2018
1033:2018
1008:2018
983:2018
953:2018
928:2020
892:2018
862:2018
836:2018
811:2018
782:2018
753:2018
727:2018
644:and
607:and
412:The
158:See
109:Date
803:NPR
561:FBI
216:150
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