Ghetto Revolts by Peter H. Rossi

Author:Peter H. Rossi [Rossi, Peter H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781351319485
Google: 3W81swEACAAJ
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2017-01-15T03:48:40+00:00

More recent developments on the controversial Cleveland case deserve mention also. On May 12, 1969, an all-white jury found Ahmed Evans guilty of seven counts of first-degree murder arising out of four slayings during the disorder last July. Evans was sentenced to die in the electric chair on September 22, 1969.

Then, on May 29, 1969, the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence authorized the release of a report entitled Shoot-Out in Cleveland; Black Militants and the Police: July 23, 1968 by Louis H. Masotti and Jerome R. Corsi. The report was partially underwritten by the Lemberg Center. Its findings confirmed many of the results of The Times investigation and provided additional insights into the case.

Doubt was cast on prior intelligence reports that the Evans group had been assembling an arsenal of handguns and carbines, that Evans planned a trip to Detroit to secure weapons, and that simultaneous outbreaks in other northern cities were planned. (“The truth of these reports was questionable.”) Further, it was revealed that these reports came from a single individual and that “other intelligence sources did not corroborate his story.” In addition, the Commission report underscored certain provocative actions by the police:

It was glaringly evident that the police had established a stationary surveillance rather than a moving one. In fact, another surveillance car was facing Ahmed’s apartment building from the opposite direction. … Both cars contained only white officers; both were in plain view of Ahmed’s home. … Rightly or wrongly, Ahmed regarded the obvious presence of the surveillance cars over several hours’ time as threatening.

The report stressed that “against theories of an ambush or well-planned conspiracy stands the evidence that on Tuesday evening [July 23, 1968] Ahmed was annoyed and apprehensive about the police surveillance.”

The Times experience, together with the report of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, strongly suggest that the assumption that the Cleveland disorder was planned is as yet unproved.

It may be significant that 14 out of the 19 police officials who expressed a view on the matter could find no evidence of planning in the disorders in their respective cities. In another instance, the police official said the disorder was planned, but he could offer no evidence in support of his statement. If this and the Cleveland case are added, the number of outbreaks that do not appear to have been planned comes to at least 16 out of 19.

In their assertions that police are now the principal targets of snipers, some observers give the impression that there have been large numbers of police casualties. In most cases, the reports have not been explicit in stating figures. However, as mentioned earlier, US. News & World Report cited 8 police deaths and 47 police woundings this past summer. In order to assess these reports, we obtained from police officials a breakdown of police casualties as a result of gunfire.

What we learned was that a total of four policemen were killed and that each death was by gunfire.

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