Hello and thanks for joining us for this episode of Into the Killing.

If you know of any cases for Into the Killing, Criminally Listed, or Parenthoodleasternit

or Parenthood, please visit our website,criminalisted.com, and then go to the Suggesticase page.

For this episode, we're going back 36 years to August 1988.

Tompkins Square Park is in New York City's East Village. In the summer of 1988,

like today, many New Yorkers were suffering from socioeconomic problems. The East Village was

becoming gentrified and many could not afford rent. This led to people living in Tompkins Square

Park in a large tent city had formed.

Residents were at odd about what should be done about the unhoused population.

Many of the new residents who had higher incomes wanted them gone.

Activists argued that a lack of affordable housing created this situation.

To stop people from living in the park, a 1 a.m. curfew was put in place.

On July 31st, 1988, there was a protest. Some of the protesters fought with the police.

Less than a week later, on the evening of August 6, 1988, around 200 protesters gathered in the park. There was also a heavy police presence.

The police were very disorganized and this led to chaos. The police charged the protesters and a riot ensued.

Although there was a lull, the riot lasted until 6 a.m. 38 people, including police officers, were injured.

There were lots of photos and videos of police officers assaulting people, including

kicking defenseless people who were on the ground.

There were over 100 complaints of police brutality.

An official report from the New York Police Department said that the police

inside the riot and they were heavy-handed in their actions.

The police were condemned for their handling of the protest, but applauded for taking responsibility for the riot.

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