Mayor Acquitted in York Riot Killings
YORK, Pa. — A day after he was acquitted of conspiring to murder a young black woman as a police officer during the city’s 1969 race riots, former York Mayor Charlie Robertson stood outside his sea-green clapboard house Sunday and waved to a well-wishing motorist who honked.
“I’m still the mayor to a lot of people,” he said.
And, to some Yorkers, he is still guilty, despite being acquitted of first- and second-degree murder charges 17 months after he was handcuffed and led out of City Hall.
For one, Brian Barbour, who is black and lives within view of where Lillie Belle Allen was gunned down by a white mob on July 21, 1969, said he believes witnesses who said Robertson handed them ammunition and told them to go kill blacks.
“Nobody should be in jail, except for the mayor,” Barbour, 42, said.
The all-white jury that acquitted Robertson on Saturday night also convicted two white men who prosecutors say were leaders of the gangs that ambushed Allen, 27, of Aiken, S.C., and several family members.
“I think the jury came down with the correct decision,” Robertson said, adding that he “didn’t have any knowledge” of ammunition being handed out by police during the riots. He said he plans to retire, probably in York, and quit politics.
Prosecutors reopened the case in December 1999. Nine white men were arrested; six pleaded guilty in August, a month after prosecutors arrested a 10th man, who is to be tried separately.
Robertson said he slept soundly Saturday night in the same home where he was born, went to church Sunday, then stopped by his favorite cafe. On the way home, he picked up a newspaper with his photograph on the front and a pair of two-liter containers of diet soda, ready to watch a football game on television.
York on Sunday appeared normal, even placid, despite fears that the prosecution and trial would re-ignite racial friction or even violence, particularly after a verdict in this racially mixed city of 41,000.
“I was worried that if Charlie didn’t get what was coming to him, there was going to be a big riot,” said Betty Roach, 62, a York native who lived through the 1969 upheaval. “Bigger than the last.”
Allen was killed at the height of York’s riots, touched off by simmering violence between white and black youths. The violence left Allen dead, a white patrolman, Henry Schaad, mortally wounded, more than 60 people injured and entire blocks burned before National Guardsmen and state troopers quelled the violence.
While attorneys for the two men convicted say they will appeal, prosecution of the 33-year-old crime is, perhaps, coming to a close. York County prosecutors will not say whether they plan to pursue charges against others and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has said that federal authorities do not have jurisdiction.
October 25th, 2002 at 1:37 am
So here I am posting with a real e-mail address, although not with a real name. Now I’d like an answer to my question: if race is a social construct, then how can you be sure that all the members of the jury were white? Is it because they had white skin? Maybe they had white skin but were actually Koreans or Zulu tribesmen. Maybe they were non-racial (is it possible to be non-racial, in contemporary PC dogma? I don’t know). Seeing how you put “all-white jury” in bold font, though, you obviously found this fact to be pretty important. Could you please explain? I’d appreciate that.
February 3rd, 2003 at 5:23 am
HATRED, WHATEVER COLOR YOU PAINT IT
I wish to respond to the comment by Rurik. Rurik seems to dwell on a superficial element of the author’s intention in the phrase ‘All White Jury’, and while his insight might have potential for elaboration on a metaphysical level, (who would resist delving into the multi-faceted possibilites of the notion of cultural whiteness?) it is quite innane in this case to distract oneself from the very presseing subject at hand. The author notes that the jury was comprised of white members to emphasize the hypocrisy surrounding this case. If a trial that acquits an authority figure instructing his subjects to actively hate other human beings, (officer Robertson told Rick Knouse of 16 to “kill as many niggers” as he could) and whose involvement with a brutal murder of a defenseless civilian has already been shown, (there is no doubt that Robertson was directly involved with arming and instructing his gang to commit the shooting of Ms. Allen) - if this scenario does not reek of hypocrisy, in the same way that the assasination plot against the Kennedy family smells of conspiracy, then my senses are blunt and my insights are mute. The mention of the white jury only points out to this shameful humanitary decay. It is a matter of fact that this entire episode, springing in a county that boasts the most kinds of hate-groups per capita in the nation, is motorized by white prejudice and priviledge. These events are a shameful part of our cultural heritage, and the denial of this shame points to a stagnation of the integrity of our national awareness.
Adam Alalouf
University of Michigan
Alalouf 2003
February 3rd, 2003 at 5:30 am
To everyone who cares (and I know you are out there) - I am well aware of my incorrect spelling of the word ‘privilege’. What can I say? English is my second language. Peace.
February 3rd, 2003 at 5:41 am
God, there are many spelling errors in this. I was writing in the midst of a heated moment. Again, you understand.