The 1966 Chicago West Side riots was a public disorder that occurred between July 12 and 15 in Chicago, Illinois. After police arrested a man that was wanted for armed robbery, black residents took to the streets in anger and looted and burned various stores throughout the West Side until the arrival of 1,200 National Guardsmen on July 15. Violence quickly subsided and most of the troops were sent home on July 20.
The riots occurred simultaneously with the murder of 8 nurses by Richard Speck on the city's south side. Martin Luther King Jr. condemned the rioting but blamed the police and the city for the riots and asked for a black man to be named the number 2 in the Chicago police. Mayor Richard J. Daley stated that "rioting" was too strong of a term and instead referred to the events as "juvenile disturbances" and asked for religious and community leaders to call for peace. Archbishop John Cody echoed Daley's statements.
#CHICAGO
#MLK
#BLACKHISTORY
