April 5, 1968: 53 years ago, Apr 5 1968, 6000 people gathered in San Francisco's Civic [...]

53 years ago, Apr 5 1968, 6000 people gathered in San Francisco’s Civic Center to mourn Martin Luther King, Jr, who had been murdered the previous day. Following the memorial, 1750 police were deployed downtown as “young Negroes swarm[ed]” Market St, smashing windows and looting

Majority-Black high schools were closed across the Bay Area, as many minor incidents of violence took place. SF Polytechnic High was firebombed, and the principal of Pittsburg High was hospitalized after being beaten by students with a rubber hose

Rioting was also reported in East Palo Alto, Oakland, and Berkeley, where several businesses on Shattuck Ave were looted. The International Longshoremen’s And Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU) announced that day that they would close all Bay Area ports to honor King