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I had a friend in what was known as “Box 414”, a citizen support group for firemen (they provided food, donuts, coffee, etc) to firemen on the scene). My late friend was well connected to 414 and he had a police/fire radio, which we listened too at nights when I visited him (and dated his older daughter).

He could tell you what engine company was responding and to what kind of call. He knew a lot of the guys. He told me after the riots in 1968 that Firemen had picked up leaflets directing rioters to specific spots to pick up dumped rocks and bricks for the rioting.

My late friend and mentor Herb Philbrick, former FBI undercover agent, also told me about, and showed me at least one document of similar vein for DC. His ties to the Bureau ran long and deep.

In fact, I was with him the night that Dr. King was killed, and I told him about it before he was scheduled to speak at a Black church (Southern Baptist) in NW DC. He gave the speak, talked to some of the attendees, and then left with his wife.

I also left but made the mistake of turning back to 14th Street NW instead of going west to 18th and cutting back to the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac.

I saw the first burning of papers on 14th & U, NW but I never saw any police up there. I finally found a Secret Service captain at the White House gate and told him what was going on (this was after 8:30 PM). He took off to investigate as this was the first time he had heard of any potential trouble.

The next day DC erupted, egged on by communist Stokely Carmichael’s call, and that of terrorist H. Rap. Brown, for the city to “Burn, Baby, Burn.”

If I can find it, I think Carmichael was in Havana and made his call over Radio Havana for an uprising while Burn was in the US.

I have never seen a real story on who the rioters were and where their leadership and supplies came from.

I do know that when I checked police booking sheets for Black Panthers in both Baltimore (re a cop-killing by Donald Cox and gang), and in DC (led by communist Paul Pumphrey), that most of the BPP members were either unemployed or partially employed “lumpenproletariat” ignoramuses and street trash.

With Attorney General Ramsey Clark in charge in DC, things could, and did, get worst, not better, for nearly a week. Almost the same in Baltimore under Mayor D’Alessandro the Coward. I saw the burnt out stores, including one belonging to a woman who later worked for our business (a clothes cleaning business). Jews were specifically targeted yet the mayor said nothing about it.

The late, brave Rabbi Herschel Leibowitz, Green Spring Valley Orthodox Synagogue (to which my family belonged), asked the congregation at a special meeting:

“Where is our good friend the mayor? Why isn’t he stopping these attacks on Jewish businesses?” etc.

For the first time in my life, I heard a shual audience respond to his questions with “Yes, where is the mayor?” and even stronger condemnations of D’Alessandro. Remember, his sister was Nancy Pelosi, so leftist/Democratic cowardice ran in the family, though his father, also once the mayor, was a pretty good guy.

Lots of backstories about what went on in the 1968 riots, and what is going on now. Let’s see who covers them, and who doesn’t.

Nothing much new except for those internet journalists who actually go out and photo-cover these events and show us the signs of many of the protestors, and what they actually do.