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The police raid on an unlicensed bar celebrating two Vietnam veterans' return ho
1967 Event

July 23

12th Street Riot in Detroit: 5 Days of Fire and Violence

The police raid on an unlicensed bar celebrating two Vietnam veterans' return home started at 3:45 AM with 73 arrests expected. By dawn, 10,000 people filled 12th Street. Governor George Romney deployed 8,000 National Guardsmen and President Johnson sent in paratroopers—17,000 troops total for one neighborhood. Five days later: 43 dead, 342 injured, 1,400 buildings burned. Most who died were killed by police or guardsmen, not rioters. Detroit's population dropped by half over the next decade as white residents fled and Black families followed jobs elsewhere. A welcome-home party destroyed a city.

July 23, 1967

59 years ago

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