Baltimore King assassination riots

the baltimore riot of 1968 began 2 days after murder. on saturday, april 6, governor of maryland, spiro t. agnew, called out thousands of national guard troops , 500 maryland state police quell disturbance. when determined state forces not control riot, agnew requested federal troops president lyndon b. johnson. riot precipitated king s assassination, evidence of larger frustrations among city s african-american population.

by sunday evening, 5,000 paratroopers, combat engineers, , artillerymen xviii airborne corps in fort bragg, north carolina, specially trained in tactics, including sniper school, on streets of baltimore fixed bayonets, , equipped chemical (cs) disperser backpacks. 2 days later, joined light infantry brigade fort benning, georgia. police , troops on streets, situation began calm down. federal bureau of investigation reported h. rap brown in baltimore driving ford mustang broward county, florida tags, , assembling large groups of angry protesters , agitating them escalate rioting. in several instances, these disturbances rapidly quelled through use of bayonets , chemical dispersers xviii airborne units. unit arrested more 3,000 detainees, turned on baltimore police. general curfew set @ 6 p.m. in city limits , martial law enforced. rioting continued, african american plainclothes police officers , community leaders sent worst areas prevent further violence. end of summer of 1968, 7 persons dead, on 400 injured, 3,000 arrested; property damage estimated @ on $5 million.

one of major outcomes of riot attention governor agnew received when criticized local black leaders not doing enough stop disturbance. while angered blacks , white liberals, caught attention of republican presidential candidate richard nixon, looking on ticket counter george wallace’s american independent party campaign. agnew became nixon’s vice presidential running mate in 1968.