ten were white. One Guardsman and
one fireman were among the casualties. Some of the other white victims
had been killed while they were engaged in looting. Damages were
originally estimated at five hundred million dollars, but later estimates
reduced the damage drastically.

Again, as in Newark, there was evidence of police brutality during the
riot. The police were charged with brutality and murder in an incident
which occurred at the Algiers Motel. After hearing that there had been a
sniper in the building, the police riddled it with bullets. Then, they
entered and searched it. In the course of questioning its inhabitants,
three youths were shot and killed.

In turn, the police and the Guard accused the rioters of widespread
sniping. Twenty-seven rioters were charged with sniping, but twenty-two
of these charges were dropped at the preliminary hearings for lack of
evidence. Later, one pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered gun,
and he received a suspended sentence.

President Johnson appointed a commission, headed by Governor Otto Kerner
of Illinois to investigate the causes of the riots. In particular, he
wished to ascertain whether any subversive or conspiratorial elements
were involved. Although many did not like the report, particularly
because of the blame it laid on the white community, it clearly proved
that there had been no subversive or conspiratorial elements in these
riots. The report warned that America was splitting into two nations: one
black and one white. It believed that racism and hatred were growing
deeper and that communication between the two communities was breaking
down. The Commission made several recommendations for change in
government, business, and society at large. These changes, however, would
be very expensive. Government at all levels largely ignored the report.
Liberals applauded it. Blacks felt that it was merely another report;
they wanted action. Conservatives claimed that it was a prejudiced and
unfair study.

In April of 1968, another rash of riots swept through the Afro-American
community. This time there was a clear and obvious cause. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., who was visiting Memphis in support of a garbage
workers' strike, was leaning over his motel's second-floor balcony
railing talking to a colleague below when suddenly he was struck by a
sniper's bullet and killed. Shock and outrage swept across the nation.
Many Afro-Americans felt that they had been robb