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Jr., who was lead detective on the murder investigations for the York City police. "There were witnesses. But no one wanted to tell you anything. People took sides according to race and didn't want to cooperate." Because there was distrust among blacks, prosecutors said they first tried to solve the Allen case, hoping that witnesses would then come forward to identify
Officer Schaad's killer. They weren't able to acquire sufficient evidence to charge anyone, and both shootings went largely uninvestigated for the next thirty years.
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the two men cited numerous witnesses who said they saw Mr. Freeland firing at the police officer's car. Both were later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to prison. Freeland received 9 to 19 years, the same sentence given to Robert N. Messersmith for killing Allen. Wright received 4 1/2 to 10 years, the same sentence given to
Gregory H. Neff for killing Allen.
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many niggers as you can." Before a judge issued a gag order in the case, the mayor confirmed that he did shout "white power" as encouragement to an angry crowd while he was on duty during the riots, but denied supplying the ammunition. Amidst public outcry and calls for his resignation, Robertson dropped his bid for re-election one week later.
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Messersmith bragging about the killing. On May 10, 2001, two more former members of a white street gang in York were accused. Rick Lynn Knouse and
Gregory Harry Neff, identified as former members of the Girarders gang, were accused after witnesses testified they'd been seen firing at the car carrying Lillie Belle Allen.
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day, seventeen-year-old Taka Nii
Sweeney was shot by an unseen gunman when York City Police Detective George Smith stopped him and his friends for violating the city's youth curfew. White and black gangs began fighting that afternoon. Eleven others were hurt when people in six blocks of the city reverted to
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Dickson began to turn around in the intersection of
Newberry Street and Gay Avenue but the car stalled. As more armed white men began coming onto their porches, Dickson panicked. Her parents, who were in the back seat, began praying. Her older sister, Lillie Belle Allen, jumped out of the car to get
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In all, ten white men were arrested in the spring of 2001 and charged with Allen's death. Seven reached plea agreements in August 2001, and pleaded guilty to lesser charges of criminal conspiracy in exchange for their testimony against the remaining defendants. Three stood trial, and on
October 18,
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was arrested and charged in Allen's murder. The affidavit filed with his arrest stated that Rick Knouse told a grand jury that the mayor, who was a York police officer at the time of the riots, had given him the rifle ammunition that Mr. Knouse used to fire at Ms. Allen and had told him to "kill as
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looking back at the riots on their 30th anniversary. The articles raised questions in the community and renewed interest in the murder cases. York County deputy prosecutor, Tom Kelley, had his staff begin unearthing the case files and reinterviewing witnesses, and York County
District Attorney Stan
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Fighting lasted through the night and into the next day. Nine more people were injured, including
Officer Henry C. Schaad. Schaad, a twenty-two-year-old rookie with eleven months on the force, was riding in one of the police department's two armored trucks when he was struck by a bullet believed to
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That same year, three police officers, Rodney George, John
Daryman, and Keith Stone, reopened the investigation of Officer Henry C. Schaad's murder, and on October 30, 2001, Stephen Freeland and Leon Wright were charged with first- and second-degree murder. An affidavit filed at the arraignment of
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Four prosecutors and four detectives spent two years trying to solve the Allen and Schaad murder cases, but people who knew about the fatal shootings kept silent, either because they were afraid or they didn't want to be seen as traitors. "It was tougher than pulling teeth," said Thomas V. Chatman
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in 1963. Black citizens of York protested police violence and discrimination at City Hall. Their demands for a biracial police review board were turned down by the all-white city council. Citizens continued to protest over the next few years and complained of police brutality and the use of police
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On July 17, 1969, with racial tensions at the boiling point, a black youth who burned himself playing with lighter fluid blamed a local white gang known as the
Girarders. That would later be revealed as a lie, but not before the pent-up resentments of the black community turned violent. That same
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On April 27, 2001, charges were filed for the first time in Lillie Belle Allen's murder. Two brothers, Robert Messersmith and Arthur Messersmith, both members of the Newberry Street Boys, an all-white gang, were charged with criminal homicide after witnesses told a grand jury they'd heard Robert
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who was visiting York with her parents, was riding in a car driven by her sister, Hattie Dickson. Dickson turned the car onto North Newberry Street and was looking for a grocery store when she saw a man with a gun leaning out of a second-story window. Multiple members of two all-white gangs, the
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found Gregory H. Neff and Robert N. Messersmith guilty of second-degree murder, but acquitted York City mayor, and former police officer, Charles Robertson. Neff and Messersmith were sentenced to prison, with Neff receiving four and a half years to ten, and Messersmith nine to nineteen. A 10th
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committed suicide, a day after prosecutors interviewed him about Allen's death. Before killing himself, he recorded two tapes, one in which he described Allen's murder, and the other in which he begged his family for forgiveness. Before shooting himself, he wrote on a napkin, "Forgive Me God."
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Prosecutors learned that three of the gang members had committed suicide over the years, but that another, who was suffering from terminal cancer, wanted to talk. Before he died he told investigators what he knew about the night Allen was killed. More developments came the following year after
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Four members of the gang responsible for killing Allen committed suicide. Richard "Dickey" Wales killed himself in 1974, Robert Downey killed himself in 1979, and Michael Messersmith, the brother of Robert and Arthur Messersmith, killed himself in 1988. On April 11, 2000, Donald Altland, 51,
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to the driver's seat and take the wheel. She flailed her arms screaming, "Don't shoot!" Multiple shooters opened fire from the street, rooftops and windows, fatally wounding Allen. More than one hundred rounds were fired at the car, and Allen was shot by several different types of bullets.
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dogs to curb protests. During this time, the city saw the rise of several notorious all-white gangs. By the mid-1960s, York had become deeply racially divided, and in 1968 a series of white-on-black crimes incited retaliation in the form of fire-bombings and street brawls.
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As Schaad lay dying, racial tension soared in the city. Fights broke out, buildings were set ablaze and police began barricading black neighborhoods. More than sixty people were injured, one hundred were arrested, and entire city blocks were burned.
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detectives visited the rural home of Donald Altland, another ex-member of the gang. Altland admitted nothing to the detectives, but confessed his role in the crime to his wife later that night. The next day Altland drove his truck to the
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defendant, Ezra T. Slick, pleaded no contest to attempted murder and conspiracy and was sentenced in May 2003 to two to five years in prison. Neff was paroled in April 2007. Messersmith was paroled in October 2011.
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in July 1969. This period of increased racial unrest followed a period of significant racial tension, rioting and racial justice protests that were taking place in multiple cities across
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declared a state of emergency and ordered an emergency curfew as two hundred National Guard troops arrived in York. Three days later the city settled down and the Guard left York.
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have been fired by a black rioter. White gangs around the city prepared for revenge. Schaad languished in the hospital for nearly two weeks before succumbing to his injuries.
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Rebert launched a grand jury investigation. They began the investigation with the gang believed to have been involved in Allen's murder, the Newberry Street Boys.
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and shot himself in the head. He left behind a taped confession for the prosecutors and a message scrawled on a napkin, "Forgive Me, God."
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Peter J. Ling, "What a difference a death makes: JFK, LBJ, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964." The Sixties 8#2 (2015): 121–137.
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Mayor, Action Team Weigh Next Efforts: Snyder Considers Bi-Racial Group, Rejects Police Review Board
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Newberry Street Boys and the Girarders, were on the street that night, and many of them were armed.
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645:"York Ex-Mayor Acquitted Two men are convicted in the 1969 race-riot slaying of S.C. woman"
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318:— actions that had endeavored to abolish multiple forms of legalized institutional
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489:, pp. 111-118. University, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1986.
705:"10th defendant sentenced in Aiken woman's 1969 race-riot killing 052903"
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2002, after thirteen days and more than one hundred witnesses, an
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York Dispatch: Race Riot Cases Shine in Rebert's Long Career
677:"2 Men Are Sentenced for Killing of Woman in 1969 Race Riot"
549:, September 26, 1963, front page (subscription required).
347:, barricading and shooting from behind bushes and poles.
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President Johnson's War on Poverty: Rhetoric and History
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Escalating racial tension and the murder of Henry Schaad
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List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
566:, September 20, 1963, p. 14 (subscription required).
375:The day after Allen's death, Pennsylvania Governor
363:On July 21, Lillie Belle Allen, a black woman from
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737:"1969 York race riots: Timeline of criminal cases"
595:"Silent no more: The murder of Lillie Belle Allen"
583:, August 14, 1963, p. 24 (subscription required).
713:. Associated Press. May 29, 2003. Archived from
515:, August 15, 1969, p. 5 (subscription required).
764:NYT: A City Begins to Confront its Racist Past
532:, June 29, 1963, p. 19 (subscription required).
620:"FROM THE ARCHIVES: New leads in '69 slayings"
560:United Church Unit in Move Against Racial Bias
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509:Cities Find Riot Insurance Dear, Hard to Get
862:African-American riots in the United States
543:Mass Meeting on York Racial Problems Slated
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877:White American riots in the United States
872:African-American history of Pennsylvania
857:Riots and civil disorder in Pennsylvania
526:Double Trouble: The Economics of Racism
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306:refers to a period of racial unrest in
827:Whopper of the Week: Charles Robertson
882:July 1969 events in the United States
685:. Associated Press. December 19, 2002
334:Racial tensions began to escalate in
314:and the nation, during and after the
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786:York Daily Record; 1969 Race Riots
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798:Long sentences in '69 riots case
643:Worden, Amy (October 20, 2002).
450:Justice for Officer Henry Schaad
359:The murder of Lillie Belle Allen
326:methods between 1954 and 1968.
593:Strong, Kim (April 19, 2016).
432:Justice for Lillie Belle Allen
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276:Hunters Point social uprising
251:1966 Chicago West Side riots
832:Lillie Belle Allen FBI file
769:NYT: Handcuffed By History
320:racism in the United States
241:1964 Philadelphia race riot
66:Racially polarizing murders
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427:Justice thirty years later
650:The Philadelphia Inquirer
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78:Investigations of murders
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887:Ghetto riots (1964–1969)
286:King assassination riots
281:Long, hot summer of 1967
231:1964 Rochester race riot
214:Ghetto riots (1964–1969)
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387:Investigations reopened
815:Riots echo across York
261:1966 Perth Amboy riots
81:End of riots by police
710:The Augusta Chronicle
547:The Gazette and Daily
530:The Gazette and Daily
365:Aiken, South Carolina
316:Civil rights movement
271:1966 Dayton race riot
266:Waukegan riot of 1966
847:1969 in Pennsylvania
657:on November 12, 2014
304:1969 York race riot
291:1969 York race riot
226:Harlem riot of 1964
140:Other black rioters
106:Other white rioters
30:1969 York race riot
18:1969 York Race Riot
867:York, Pennsylvania
820:2008-06-05 at the
803:2008-06-06 at the
791:2011-01-03 at the
779:2011-09-27 at the
682:The New York Times
400:published articles
336:York, Pennsylvania
322:through primarily
308:York, Pennsylvania
56:York, Pennsylvania
741:York Daily Record
599:York Daily Record
581:The York Dispatch
564:The York Dispatch
513:The York Dispatch
483:Zarefsky, David.
420:Charlie Robertson
409:Susquehanna River
397:York Daily Record
393:The York Dispatch
377:Raymond P. Shafer
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137:Black gangs
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71:Resulted in
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841:Categories
746:2023-08-12
629:2023-08-12
471:References
324:nonviolent
152:Casualties
63:Caused by
46:July 1969
818:Archived
801:Archived
789:Archived
777:Archived
721:July 23,
689:July 23,
661:July 23,
604:July 23,
459:See also
395:and the
173:Arrested
165:Injuries
157:Death(s)
51:Location
35:Part of
88:Parties
723:2017
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