This article is about incidents of civil unrest, rioting, violent labor disputes, or minor insurrections or revolts in the United States. For incidents occurring before the Declaration of Independence, see List of incidents of civil unrest in Colonial North America.
Listed are major episodes of civil unrest in the United States. This list does not include the numerous incidents of destruction and violence associated with various sporting events.[1]
1838 – Burning of Pennsylvania Hall; a lecture hall built with the intention of debating abolition, women's rights, and other reforms is burned down only 4 days after opening.
1861 – Camp Jackson Affair, May 10, Union forces clash with Confederate sympathizers on the streets of St. Louis, 28 dead, 100 injured, St. Louis, Missouri
1862 – Brooklyn Riot of 1862 occurred August 4 between the New York Metropolitan Police against a white mob attacking African American strike-breakers at a Tobacco Factory[4]
1886 – Bay View Massacre, May 4; 1400 workers march for eight hour work day; 7 killed and several more wounded after confrontation with National Guard. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1887 – Reservoir war, April 25; a minor insurrection against the State of Ohio to destroy a canal feeder reservoir and other canal infrastructure. Antwerp, Ohio
1887 – Thibodaux Massacre, November 22–25; a racial attack mounted by white paramilitary groups in Thibodaux, Louisiana in November 1887 Thibodaux, Louisiana
1935 – Harlem Riot, March 19–20, New York City; first "modern" race riot due to attacks turning from against people to against property
1935 – Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Riot, Arkansas
1935 – Terre Haute General Strike, July 22–23, A labor dispute between an enameling company and a labor union led to a two-day general strike. Indiana National Guard was called out and martial law was declared by the Governor. The city was under a state of martial law for six months. It was the third general strike in U.S. History. Terre Haute, Indiana
1964 – The July 16 killing of James Powell by police in the Yorkville neighborhood just south of East Harlem precipitates a string of race riots in July and August, including:
1964 – Jersey City Riot, August 3–5, A disorderly conduct arrest set off accusations of police brutality and were followed by protests and riots.[14] At least two residents were shot and several police and rioters were injured,[15]Jersey City, NJ
1966 – 1966 New York City riots, July 14–20, New York City, New York, A riot broke out following a dispute between white and black youths. One person was killed and 53 injured. There were three arson incidents and 82 arrests.[16]
1966 – Perth Amboy riots, August 2–5, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, a riot broke out following the arrest of a Hispanic man for loitering. Hispanic residents also disliked being treated negatively by the police and being ignored by the community. Twenty-six injuries were reported (15 from law enforcement officers and 11 from civilians) and 43 arrests were made. Interference with firefighters occurred.[16][17]
1967 – 1967 Clearwater riot, June 3[19] or 4,[21] Clearwater, Florida, a riot started after a white police officer tried to assist an African-American officer break up a fight between two African-American men.[21]
1967 – 1967 Philadelphia riot, June 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, began after a dispute involving a rug. Bottle and brick throwing were reported in an African-American neighborhood and 4 police officers were injured.[21]
1967 – 1967 Maywood riots, June 14, Maywood, Illinois, riots began after young African-American men and women demanded a swimming pool in the historically neglected neighborhood.[19]
1967 – 1967 Waterloo riots, July 8–9, Waterloo, Iowa, riots started after a young African-American man was arrested for assault and battery of an elderly white man sweeping the sidewalk in front of his business.[23]
1967 – 1967 Fresno riot, July 15–17, Fresno, California, riots were sparked after the loss of a local youth job program used extensively by African-American and Latino youths. Two people were injured, 27 arrested and 46 cases of arson were reported.[16][24]
1967 – 1967 New Brunswick riots, July 17–18, New Brunswick, New Jersey, riots began after a group of roughly 200 African-American teenagers protested against unfair treatment in local public schools, unemployment, the closing of a social club and long-term police brutality. Protesters looted stores in the city's business district, specifically targeting those considered to treat black customers unfairly. By 2 AM 32 adults and 18 juveniles, all of them black, had been arrested for looting, possession of stolen property, carrying weapons, and loitering. In response, Mayor Patricia Sheehan declared a 10 PM curfew. On June 18, a crowd of 200 people gathered where 75 heavily armed police officers were barricading a route to the downtown business district. The protesters promised to disperse once the police were removed, and they did.[25]
1967 – 1967 Rochester riots, July 23–24, Rochester, New York a riot began following police shutting down a drag race. One person was killed, 9 injured, 146 arson cases reported and 69 people arrested. The New York State Police and the National Guard would be called up.[16][19]
1967 – 1967 Lima riots, July 23–26, Lima, Ohio riots began following the killing of a white man by a black man. Two cases of arson were reported and 23 arrests made.[16]
1967 – 1967 Grand Rapids riot, July 25–27, Grand Rapids, Michigan, a riot began following the Grand Rapids Police raiding and shutting down an illegal bar. As the patrons stood on the street police attempted to arrest a young man for stealing a car. The young man had a broken arm in a cast and the onlookers accused the police of brutality in the arrest. The next night rioters began using Molotov cocktails to burn down businesses and houses. White vigilantes took to the streets to counter the protesters. Gov. George Romney ordered the National Guard to intervene. By the end of the protests there were 44 injuries, no deaths and 30 arrests.[16][28]
1967 – 1967 Albany riot, Albany, New York, July 27–28, riots began in response to a rumor of two deaths at the hands of the police. Forty-one people were arrested and there were 3 arson cases.[16]
1967 – 1967 Providence riots, July 31 – August 1, 23 people were injured and 14 arrests were made.[19]
1967 – 1967 New Haven riots, August 19–23, a riot began following a white restaurant owner shooting at a Puerto Rican man who had come at him with a knife. Over 200 Connecticut State Troopers would be called in to assist the city's police department that had 430 officers. Three people were injured, 679 arrested and 90 cases of arson reported.[29]
1968 – 1968 Paterson riots, July 2–7, Paterson, New Jersey riots began following rumors a man was killed by the police while being arrested. One hundred and fifty people were arrested and 86 cases of arson reported.[16]
1968 – 1968 Coney Islands Riots, July 19–22, Coney Island, New York City, New York, the cause of the riots are unclear. Five police officers were injured and eight people were arrested by the police in a neighborhood that was predominantly black and Puerto Rican.[33][34]
1968 – 1968 Richmond riots. July 25–30, Richmond, California riots broke out after a 15-year-old black male suspect in a car robbery was shot by police. Seventeen arson cases were reported and 564 people arrested.[16][35]
1970 – University of Puerto Rico riot, March 4–11, at least one killed, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
1970 – Coachella Riots, April 5, Coachella, California, started after a Brown Beret member disrupted a dance by getting on the stage and calling for "action." Three people were arrested, four police officers injured and the mayor's house was burned down.[33][36]
1971 – Albuquerque riots, June 13–15, Albuquerque, New Mexico the arrest of several Chicano teens for underage drinking at Albuquerque's Roosevelt Park set off 30 hours of violence. Police fired their guns in the air and tossed tear gas but the angry crowd overturned police cars, started fires and smashed windows, forcing officers to flee. Some 600 people were arrested, dozens injured and the area and nearby buildings damaged.[37][38]
1971 – Santa Fe Fiestas riot, September 7, 1971, Santa Fe, New Mexico, civil disturbances and vandalism during annual Fiestas event. Police fired tear gas into crowd. One hundred National Guardsman were called to protect buildings and keep order.[40] 23 people were arrested.[41]
1972 – Gainesville riots, May 12, 1972, Gainesville, Florida, anti-war protesters and police clashed for several hours. One hundred and seventy-four people were arrested and 24 injured.[44]
1979 – Levittown Gas Riot, June 23–24, Thousands rioted in response to increased gasoline prices in the U.S., 198 arrested, 44 police and 200 rioters injured. Gas stations were damaged and cars set on fire, Levittown, Pennsylvania
1989 – 1989 Miami riot, January 16–18, four days of rioting in the Overtown neighborhood began after a police officer shot a man driving a motorcycle who was fleeing another officer. He crashed and his passenger was also killed. Miami, Florida
1989 – 1989 Tampa riot, February 1, Tampa, Florida a riot began following the death of an African American man while in police custody.
The disturbance lasted for an hour with 150 youths participating. A grocery store was looted and set on fire. Four police officers, including one involved in the initial arrest, were injured.[47][48]
1990 – 1990 Wynwood riots, December 3, 1990, Miami, Florida, Started after the acquittal of police officers who had beaten a drug dealer named Leonardo Mercado to death in December 1988.[49]
2010 – Oakland protest riot, November 5, protesting sentence of former BART officer in shooting of Oscar Grant on New Years Day 2009; see BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. Oakland, California
2011 – Madison Occupation. Protestors storm and occupy the Wisconsin state capitol building for 18 days.
2020 – New York City FTP protests, January 31, Anti-Transit Police and MTA protest resulting in hundreds of arrests over the three separate days of demonstration. Vandalism and violence on train stations were reported.
2020 – University of Dayton closure riot, March 11, A riot broke out following the university's announcement of a temporary closure due to COVID-19.[51]
2020 – Protesters surround a police precinct in Minneapolis during the George Floyd protests, part of a larger wave of civil unrest in 2020 and 2021.George Floyd protests, May 26 – Following the murder of George Floyd, protests and civil unrest against police brutality and systemic racism began in Minneapolis and quickly spread across the United States and the world, on a scale unseen since the unrest of the summers of 1967 and 1968. Derek Chauvin, the policeman who held his knee on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, was soon fired along with the three other officers involved. Later, Chauvin was arrested and charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter; after being taken into custody and released on bail in October 2020, Chauvin was found guilty on all charges in April 2021[52] and sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison in June 2021.[53] The other three policemen were convicted of federal civil rights violations in February 2022.[54] Widespread protests and riots spread to other American cities and then to other countries, with Floyd's murder garnering condemnation.[55] Protest tactics included peaceful occupation and resistance, but was overshadowed by widespread looting and damage of private and public properties. In the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill, an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone was established on June 8, 2020, covering six city blocks and a park after the Seattle Police Department left their East Precinct building. The area was cleared of occupants by police on July 1, 2020. May 29 began national days of protests in every state; some of which lasted throughout the summer of 2020.[56]
2020 – Kenosha unrest, August 23–28, On August 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jacob Blake was shot in the back by a police officer while not complying with their attempt to arrest him. Protests and rioting occurred after the incident. A State of Emergency was declared, and police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. During several days of rioting, government buildings were damaged, businesses were looted and set on fire, and vehicles were firebombed, including 100 cars burned at a car dealership. On the third day of unrest an armed teenager shot three rioters, whom one was also armed, wounding one and killing two. By August 28, almost 1000 Wisconsin National Guard troops were on the streets, backed by National Guard troops from Michigan, Alabama and Arizona. Nearly 100 buildings were damaged with the cost of damage to City property close to $2 million and the cost to private property damaged near $50 million.
2020 – Minneapolis false rumors riot, August 26–28, On August 26, a false rumor that police shot a man in Minneapolis started riots that set four buildings on fire and damaged 72 others.
2020 – Jewish Protest, October 7–8, In Brooklyn, New York, members of the Orthodox Jewish community protested over new COVID-19 restrictions. Minor fires were set, masks were burned, and journalist Jacob Kornbluh was attacked. Heshy Tischler was taken into custody for inciting a riot.[57]
2020 – 2020–21 United States election protests, November 3 – March 2021, Several demonstrations were held during and after the 2020 presidential election. Clashes between pro-Trump supporters and counterprotesters occurred on multiple nights, including November 14 and December 12. On the night of December 12, there were multiple stabbings and over 23 people were arrested.
2021 – United States Capitol attack, January 6, After months of unsuccessful attempts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, asserting voter fraud occurred and unsuccessfully attempting to pressure state election officials to alter the election results in his favor, a large group of pro-Trump supporters, allegedly called to action by Trump,[58] entered the United States Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's election victory. The Capitol was vandalized, including doors, windows, and offices, forcing members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to evacuate. One death occurred as a direct result of the unrest, and several additional deaths were reported subsequently, but determined to be due to unrelated or natural causes.[59]Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from Southern California, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she attempted to enter through a broken window leading to the Speaker's Lobby inside the Capitol. During a rush of protestors attempting to fight their way through the police line, Rosanne Boyland was unintentionally crushed and killed. While originally believed to have been a victim of blunt force trauma or chemical spray during altercations between protestors and police, officer Brian Sicknick also died shortly after the violence from a stroke. Nearly 140 police officers were injured.[60] In the aftermath of the unrest, which received widespread domestic and international condemnation, the Chief of the Capitol Police resigned under pressure and President Trump was impeached a second time under accusation of incitement of insurrection.[61][62] His subsequent trial in February 2021 ultimately resulted in an acquittal by the Senate, making Trump the first to be tried as a former president and to be impeached and acquitted twice.[63]
2021 – Daunte Wright protests, April 11 – February 18, 2022, On April 11, police officer Kim Potter fatally shot 20-year-old African-American man Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, near where former police officer Derek Chauvin was standing trial for the murder of George Floyd.[64] Protests demanding justice for Wright were met with force by law enforcement, who used tear gas, canisters, and other methods to disperse protesters. Several demonstrations escalated into riots with property damage, looting, and violent clashes between protesters and police. On April 14, shortly after she resigned from the police force, Potter was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter.[65] In response to the unrest, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared a State of Emergency and imposed a citywide curfew amid mass arrests.
2021 – May 9 – June 2021, amid the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, the United States saw a rise in antisemitism and violence against Jews, as both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets of major U.S. cities.[66] On May 20, in Midtown Manhattan, pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters both took to the streets; the two groups collided and fights broke out. At least 26 people were arrested during the protests on various charges, including obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to police. During the violence, anti-semitic attackers beat a Jewish man.[67] Also on May 20 in Bal Harbour, Florida, an SUV carrying four supporters of Palestine drove by a synagogue and threw garbage at a Jewish family. A nearby driver, armed with a gun, witnessed the incident and jumped to the family's defense, chasing the men away. In a separate incident, a man in Miami drove a van painted with Nazi symbols past a pro-Israel demonstration and shouted antisemitic slurs; the man was subsequently arrested and later released.[68]
2021 – Winston Boogie Smith riots, June 3–7, On June 3, at about 2:10 P.M at a parking garage on Lake Street between Fremont and Hennepin Avenues in the Upton district of Minneapolis, a 32-year-old African-American man named Winston Boogie Smith was killed by Hennepin County and Ramsey County Sheriff's Departments deputies who were assisting the US Marshals Service in arresting him. The US Marshals Service stated their reason for arresting him was because he had failed to appear in court on May 19 after being arrested for firearms possession. There is no known video footage of the incident occurring. Both a Ramsey and a Hennepin county deputy were later placed on administrative leave. A crowd gathered after the incident occurred waiting to hear more information pertaining to the incident. During that night a handful of businesses were looted and vandalized. Nine arrests were reported to have been made.[69] On June 13, an SUV drove into a parked car that was shielding protesters and the car was pushed into a crowd, leading to the death of one person and injuring 3 others.[70] On July 8, 2021, a video link was posted on Twitter showing a driver in the Uptown area of Minneapolis "Firing a gun into the air while doing burnouts".[71][72]
2021-2023 – Stop Cop City, Due to an increase of crime and a lack of police morale from the 2020–2022 United States racial unrest in the city of Atlanta, a training facility was proposed to be built in order to address these issues. In response, forest defenders known as Stop Cop City began to protest the construction by barricading the area and performing sit-ins in the forest. On January 18, 2023, law enforcement agencies attempted to clear the area. During the raid, a trooper was shot in the leg and a protester, identified as Manuel Terán, known also as "Tortuguita", was killed by police.[73][74] Police stated without evidence that Terán fired on them without warning.[75] Journalists who had previously interviewed Terán, other protestors, and Terán's family have questioned whether Terán fired first, pointing to lack of body-camera footage of the shooting and calling for an independent investigation.[75][76][77][78] In response to the shooting, on January 21, 2023, protesters marched through Atlanta; some burned an Atlanta Police Department vehicle and started attacking businesses that have financially contributed to the Atlanta Police Foundation.[79]
August 4, 2023 – Union Square riot, popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat held a fan meetup in Union Square, New York City where he was to give away free PlayStation 5's. The event quickly spiraled out of control due to the large number of attendees. Law enforcement who responded to the situation sustained multiple injuries, and property was damaged. Multiple people were arrested and detained, including Cenat, who faced possible charges of inciting a riot.[80]
September 26–27 - Philadelphia experienced two nights of mass looting across the city, ranging from small businesses to major retailers such as Apple.[81] Over 18 liquor stores were robbed, prompting PA to shutter all state run liquor stores in Philadelphia briefly, while others remain closed until further notice. At least 72 have been arrested after they took advantage of law enforcement being distracted with protests over the police shooting of Eddie Irrizary, though the DA asserts the looters were not themselves associated with the protests.[82] Local influencer Dayjia "Meatball" Blackwell is alleged to have used her social media following to encourage people to participate in criminal activities in seven different locations. Blackwell, along with many of the mostly masked, young adult looters, livestreamed the robberies on TikTok and Instagram, where the 21-year-old has hundreds of thousands of followers.[83]
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