July 1967

Newark, New Jersey erupted July 12 after police beat Black cab driver John William Smith and dragged him into the 4th precinct. Five days of unrest killed 26 people — most shot by police and National Guard — injured 725, and resulted in 1,500 arrests. The Governor's Commission found that law enforcement 'responded with excessive and unjustified force.'

President Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, chaired by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, to investigate the causes of 1967 urban uprisings. Its 1968 report concluded: 'Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal,' and called for massive investment in jobs, housing, and education.

An uprising in Plainfield, New Jersey followed a police beating of a Black youth, Bobby Williams. Officer John Gleason was beaten to death by a crowd. The New Jersey National Guard forcibly searched all Black homes on one street to seize legally owned carbines. The Kerner Commission cited the gun seizures as a major civil liberties violation.

During the Plainfield, New Jersey uprising triggered by police beating of Bobby Williams, the National Guard forcibly searched all Black homes on one street to seize legally owned carbines. The Kerner Commission cited the gun seizures as a major civil liberties violation.

One of the deadliest urban uprisings of the decade.