A number of riots have broken out in Detroit, since the city was founded in 1701. The most well-known of these among many in the present day was the 1967 Detroit riot, which was for years one of the deadliest civil disturbances in the United States. Riots have historically broken out over issues such as race relations, streetcars, brothels, runaway slaves and sporting events.
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1833
The first recorded riot in Detroit broke out on June 17, 1833. A crowd of black Detroiters gathered at the Wayne County Jail in protest over a verdict in which a runaway slave couple, Thornton and Ruthie Blackburn, would return to Kentucky. As Thornton Blackburn was led to a waiting steamer by sheriff John Wilson, Wilson was attacked by mobs, allowing the Blackburns to escape to Windsor, Ontario. Thirty black individuals were subsequently arrested for conspiring to free the Blackburns.
1849
On December 13, 1849, more than 60 shop owners along Gratiot Avenue destroyed tracks of the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad that had been laid along the road. After the tracks were relaid, they were again destroyed by rioters. It wasn't until 1852 that the tracks were finally rerouted.
1855-59
Though attacks on brothels catering to black men in predominately German neighborhoods had already occurred as early as 1834, these peaked between 1855 and 1859. During this period, there were 12 disturbances in which a total of at least 17 brothels were either seriously damaged or destroyed, all on the east side, around the present-day Lafayette Park area. Usually anywhere between 50 and 300 rioters ordered prostitutes and their customers out of the brothels before they were vandalized.
1891
On April 23, 1891, workers of the privately run trolley system walked off their jobs, resulting in three days of rioting, in which streetcars were stoned, horses were unhitched and rails were torn apart. By the third day, barriers had been formed, crippling transit service. Among the rioters was future mayor and Senator James Couzens. A similar streetcar riot broke out in 1918.
1894
An ongoing economic depression strained relations between the growing ethnic communities, Detroit's leaders and wealthy citizens. On April 18, 1894, workers on an excavation project for the Water Board on East Jefferson Avenue near Conner Street, mostly Polish immigrants, attacked a crowd that had gathered at the site. Three people were killed, including sheriff C.P. Collins.
1934
During the sixth inning of game four of the 1934 World Series at Navin Field, Joe Medwick scored a triple and slid into third base when he was stepped on by Marv Owen. An attempt at a fight between the umpire, players and coaches was prevented, but after Medwick returned to left field at the bottom of the sixth inning, Detroit Tigers fans attacked him with fruit, garbage and bottles. 17 minutes later, order was restored when Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis ordered Medwick out of the game. The Tigers would go on to lose the game, and, as a result, the series, 11-0.
1942
A crowd of 1,000 people gathered on February 28, 1942, at the intersection of Ryan Road and East Nevada Street to protest a black family that was in the process of moving into the newly built Sojourner Truth Projects, primarily due to the development being intended for black war workers being erected in a predominately white neighborhood. Police battled rioters for several hours, resulting in dozens of injuries. No further incidents took place, even after family members finally entered their new homes.
1966
On August 11, 1966, seven black males which had gathered at Kercheval and Pennsylvania Streets were asked by police to disperse, however, three of those refused, resulting in 100 rioters gathering at the intersection. Rioting continued for two additional days before a rain system brought the mayhem to an end.
1968
Less than a year after the 1967 riots, rioting erupted again on 12th Street on April 4, 1968, hours after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., simultaneously with 110 other US cities, prompting George W. Romney to order the National Guard into the city. One person was killed, stores were vandalized and several buildings were set on fire. Order was restored the following day.
1975
In July 1975, the white owner of a Livernois Avenue bar shot and killed a black 18-year-old, sparking two nights of rioting beginning on July 28.
1984
The Tigers would win the 1984 World Series in five games, but the celebrations that followed, attended by over 100,000 people, turned into rioting as one person was killed, several more were injured, one Detroit Police Department car was set on fire and four others were severely damaged. At one point, about 50 officers in riot gear chased a large crowd of over 6,000 people up Woodward Avenue from Hart Plaza. The rioting was widely reported internationally, the most famous image being an Associated Press photo of Lincoln Park resident Kenneth "Bubba" Helms posing in front of the police cruiser that was torched.
1990
Rioting erupted after the Detroit Pistons won the 1990 NBA Finals, in which seven people were killed and a number of stores were looted.
1992
No large-scale rioting occurred in Detroit following the acquittal of four officers involved in the 1991 beating of Rodney King, however, at least two minor incidents were still reported. A Molotov cocktail was tossed into a police mini-station on the west side and the station was vandalized, and graffiti intended to be a message to King was painted on a Dairy Queen restaurant near the University of Detroit Mercy campus.