Crown Heights riot

Car crash At approximately 8:20 p.m. on Monday, August 19, 1991, Yosef Lifsh, 22, was driving a station wagon with three passengers west on President Street, part of the three-car motorcade of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement. The procession was led by an unmarked police car with two officers, with its rooftop light flashing. Lifsh's vehicle struck a car being driven on Utica Avenue, veered onto the sidewalk, knocked a 600-pound (275 kg) stone building pillar down and pinned two children against an iron grate covering the window of a first-floor apartment in a four-story brick building (). Seven-year-old Gavin Cato, the son of Guyanese immigrants, who was working on his bicycle chain while on the sidewalk near his apartment on President Street, died instantly. His seven-year-old cousin Angela Cato, who was playing nearby, survived but was severely injured. Lifsh believed he had the right of way to proceed through the intersection because of the police escort. Members of the Hatzolah EMS unit, who arrived on the scene about three minutes after the crash, said that Lifsh was being beaten and pulled out of the station wagon by three or four men. A volunteer ambulance from the Hatzolah ambulance corps arrived on the scene at about 8:23 p.m., followed by police and a City ambulance. The latter took Gavin Cato to Kings County Hospital, arriving at 8:32 p.m.; Cato was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. According to The New York Times, more than 250 neighborhood residents, mostly black teenagers, many of whom were shouting "Jews! Jews! Jews!", jeered the driver of the car and turned their anger on the police. Some members of the community were outraged because Lifsh was taken from the scene by a private ambulance service while city emergency workers were still trying to free the children who were pinned under the car. There was a rumor at the time that Lifsh was intoxicated. A breath alcohol test administered by police within 70 minutes of the crash indicated this was not the case. Later that evening, as the crowds and rumors grew, people threw bottles and rocks. Someone reportedly shouted, "Let's go to Kingston Avenue and get a Jew!" A number of black youths set off westward toward Kingston Avenue ( away from Utica Avenue), a street of predominantly Jewish residents several blocks away, vandalizing cars, and throwing rocks and bottles as they went. ==Riots and murders==

Murder of Yankel Rosenbaum About three hours after the riots began, early on the morning of August 20, a group of approximately 20 young black men, with the incitement of Charles Price, who chanted "Let's go get a Jew," surrounded Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Jewish University of Melbourne student in the United States conducting research for his doctorate. They stabbed him several times in the back and beat him severely, fracturing his skull. Before being taken to the hospital, Rosenbaum identified 16-year-old Lemrick Nelson Jr. as his assailant in a line-up shown to him by the police. Rosenbaum died later that night because the doctor did not notice a stab wound in his chest. Nelson was charged with murder as an adult; he was acquitted at trial. Following that trial, Australian attorney Norman Rosenbaum became an advocate for his late brother, inspiring protests that included a shutdown of the Brooklyn Bridge and a demonstration at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence. In 1997, Nelson and Price were both convicted in federal court of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights resulting in his death. After the judge ruled that the two men had committed second degree murder, Nelson was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while Price was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison. However, that verdict was vacated on appeal due to unfairness in the jury selection process. A retrial was held in 2003. There were two primary issues of contention: whether Nelson's actions had been motivated by prejudice and whether Nelson's actions caused Rosenbaum's death. Nelson later was convicted in federal court of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights. He eventually admitted that he had stabbed Rosenbaum but was acquitted of having caused Rosenbaum's death. Nelson received the statutory maximum of 10 years in prison. In 2002, Charles Price pleaded guilty to civil rights violations resulting in Rosenbaum's death. He was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison. Rioting For three days following the crash, numerous African Americans and Caribbean Americans of the neighborhood, joined by growing numbers of non-residents, rioted in Crown Heights. In the rioting of the ensuing three days, according to Edward Shapiro, many of the rioters "did not even live in Crown Heights." and after groups of blacks marched through Crown Heights chanting "No Justice, No Peace!", "Death to the Jews!", and "Whose streets? Our streets!", an additional 1,200 police officers were sent to confront rioters in Crown Heights. The marchers proceeded through Crown Heights carrying antisemitic signs and burning an Israeli flag. Rioters threw bricks and bottles at police; shots were fired at police and police cars were pelted and overturned, including the Police Commissioner's car. and 225 cases of robbery and burglary were committed. Property damage was estimated at one million dollars. ==Viewpoints==

After the death of Gavin Cato, members of the black community believed that the decision to remove Lifsh from the scene first was racially motivated. They also said that the decision to remove Lifsh first was proof that a perceived system in which preferential treatment was afforded to Jews existed in Crown Heights, (Some Jews referred to the riot as a 'pogrom'; see ). The preferential treatment was reported to include biased actions by law enforcement and uneven allocations of government resources, amongst others. Many members of the black community were concerned that the number of Jews in the community had increased and that they were buying all of the property in the crowded area. The text of an interview which was conducted by Shmuel Butman, published in 1991, cites a police directive to Hatzolah to transport Lifsh, along with Jews who were already injured by rioters, without transporting either of the Cato children. "We did exactly what the police officers wisely advised us." Based on protesters' statements and actions during the rioting, Butman said, "We were always hoping that after World War II no Jew would ever be killed just for being Jewish, but this is what happened in the city of New York." A writer for City Journal criticized the news media for downplaying the role which antisemitism played in the riots, noting various antisemitic displays, such as a banner which was displayed at the funeral of Cato that said, "Hitler did not do the job". He notes that there are many interpretations of what happened: ==Court case==

A grand jury composed of 10 black, eight white, and five Hispanic jurors found no cause to indict Lifsh. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes explained that under New York law, the single act of "losing control of a car" is not criminal negligence, even if death or injury resulted. Lifsh waived immunity and testified before the grand jury. Subsequently, Lifsh moved to Israel, where his family lives, because he claimed his life was threatened. In Israel, Lifsh settled in the Lubavitch village of Kfar Chabad. Afterwards, Hynes fought unsuccessfully for the public release of the testimony that the grand jury had heard. His lawsuit was dismissed, and the judge noted that more than three-quarters of the witnesses who had been contacted refused to waive their right to privacy. The judge also expressed concern for the witnesses' safety. ==Aftermath==

Impact on the 1993 mayoral race The Crown Heights riot contributed to the defeat of David Dinkins in his second mayoral bid. He was attacked by many political adversaries in his reelection bid, including vocal proponents of "Black nationalism, back-to-Africa, economic radicalism, and racial exclusiveness." The report was extremely critical of Police Commissioner Lee Brown. The report also criticized Mayor Dinkins for poor handling of the riots. However, the report found no evidence to support the most severe charge against Dinkins and Brown: that they had purposely delayed the police response in order to allow rioters to "vent" their rage. The first night of the riot, Dinkins, along with Police Commissioner Brown, both African Americans, went to Crown Heights to talk to the community to dispel the rumors about the circumstances surrounding the crash. They had no appreciable influence on the rioters, most of whom were young black men. Use of the word 'pogrom' The Crown Heights riot was an important event that was repeatedly talked about on the campaign trail during the 1993 mayoral election. According to Edward S. Shapiro, politicians who opposed Mayor Dinkins used the word 'pogrom' in an attempt to discredit his response to the riot by characterizing it as an act of government-approved violence against Jews, writing "the controversy over how to define the Crown Heights riot was not merely an issue of semantics." Other political opponents of Dinkins also used the term, including Ed Koch, who had been defeated by Dinkins in the 1989 Democratic mayoralty primary, and Andrew Stein, a candidate in the 1993 Democratic mayoral primary. Ethnic relations Prior to the riots, Eastern Parkway divided the black community in northern Crown Heights and the Jewish community in southern Crown Heights. Efforts which were aimed at improving the relations between black people and Jews in Crown Heights began almost immediately after the rioting. Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden summoned the leaders of each of the ethnic communities to Borough Hall within days after the riots ended, creating what became known as the Crown Heights Coalition. The Coalition, led by Edison O. Jackson, then President of Medgar Evers College, and Rabbi Shea Hecht, chairman of the Board of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE), operated for ten years as an inter-group forum in which residents of the neighborhood could air their concerns and attempt to resolve their issues. Golden used the Coalition to initiate interracial projects which were designed to promote dialogue. One project involved sending a Jewish leader and a black leader together in a pair to public intermediate and high schools in the area to answer questions from the children about each other's cultures. A week after the riot, Hatzolah helped repair an ambulance which was used by providers of a black-owned volunteer service. The following year, the Brooklyn Children's Museum held an exhibit about the contributions which were made by black people and Jews in New York. In 1993, the Rev. Jesse Jackson actively promoted improved black-Jewish relations. In 1993, a series of neighborhood basketball games were scheduled by teams which represented the two communities, including a scrimmage which was scheduled to be held as part of the halftime entertainment during a New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers professional basketball game. Also that year, Rabbi Israel Shemtov, whose anti-crime patrol had long been perceived by many black residents as biased against them, rushed to the aid of a black woman who had been shot on the street in Crown Heights, putting her in his car and taking her to the hospital. The Crown Heights Mediation Center was established in 1998 to help resolve local differences, also a direct outcome of the Coalition. Anniversary commemorations On August 19, 2001, a street fair was held in memory of Cato and Rosenbaum, and their relatives met and exchanged mementos in hopes of healing in Crown Heights. Again in 2016, family members Carmel Cato and Norman Rosenbaum planned to meet together to commemorate their loss. Twenty years after the riot, a Manhattan synagogue invited Sharpton to participate in a panel discussion marking the anniversary. Norman Rosenbaum, brother of the murdered Yankel Rosenbaum, was outraged, saying inviting Sharpton to speak was "an absolute disgrace" and that his "vile rhetoric incited the rioting." He added that Sharpton "did absolutely nothing then to improve black-Jewish relations — and nothing since." Sharpton expressed regret for some aspects of his involvement. He insisted that his marches were peaceful, although his language and tone "sometimes exacerbated tensions." In a 2019 speech to a Reform Jewish gathering, Sharpton said that he could have "done more to heal rather than harm". He recalled receiving a call from Coretta Scott King at the time, during which she told him "sometimes you are tempted to speak to the applause of the crowd rather than the heights of the cause, and you will say cheap things to get cheap applause rather than do high things to raise the nation higher". Demographics In his 2006 book about the riot, Edward Shapiro wrote that the demographic trends in Crown Heights largely remained the same as they were back in 1991. Jews did not flee from Crown Heights, and the Lubavitch population of Crown Heights increased after the riot, leading to an expansion of the area in which they reside. ==In popular culture==

Anna Deavere Smith interviewed more than 100 people who were directly and indirectly involved in the riot and afterward, she wrote her play Fires in the Mirror (1992), a one-woman show with Smith playing the roles of numerous public and private figures, having drawn quotes from the transcripts of her interviews. The television film Crown Heights (2004), starring Howie Mandel, focused on the aftermath of the riot. ==See also==