Civil Rights 50 Years Later: Teen's Killing Sparked 1964 NYC Race Riot
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Over two weeks, WCBS 880′s Wayne Cabot is taking a look at the law and its impact on the decades that follow.
It is all part of the event CBS News 50 Years Later – Civil Rights, powered by Microsoft Bing Pulse.
In New York City in 1964, an off-duty police lieutenant shot and killed a 15-year-old black student, James Powell, who was hanging out with friends on a stoop near a summer school in Yorkville.
After his funeral on July 18, 1964, angry protesters took the streets of Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Rioting continuing for four days.
The lieutenant, Thomas Gilligan, was exonerated.
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