Mayor Won’t Testify in PA Riot Case
YORK, Pa. — Former Mayor Charlie Robertson, on trial for allegedly handing out ammunition to white gangs that killed a young black woman during a 1969 race riot, told a judge Tuesday that he will not testify.
Robertson said he reached the decision “under the advice of my attorneys.”
Judge John C. Uhler advised Robertson of his right to not take the stand and Robertson said he understood what his decision meant.
Robertson, 68, and two others are charged in the murder of Lillie Belle Allen, a South Carolina woman who was visiting relatives in York when blacks and whites erupted into rioting in July 1969.
Allen was shot to death in a white neighborhood when a car carrying her and several family members stalled at a railroad crossing. Robertson, who was then a policeman, is charged with handing out ammunition to white gangs and urging them to exact revenge for the earlier killing of a white police officer.
While Robertson has admitted that he shouted “white power” at the rally before the slaying, he denied the accusations and has apologized for his behavior, saying he no longer harbors racist beliefs.
The attack on Allen was one of scores during the 10-day riots that also left 60 people wounded and whole city blocks torched before about 400 state troopers and National Guardsmen came to town with tanks and rifles to quell racial violence.
Charges weren’t brought in the two killings until last year, when prosecutors said new information surfaced.
Nine white men were charged last year in the case. Six pleaded guilty in August to shooting at the car or being lookouts for blacks entering the neighborhood. A 10th man arrested in July is to be tried separately.