Accounts of defensive firearms use during a riot?

[CountryGent]

I've been doing some reading about the tumultuous civil rights moment. There was plenty of civil unrest in that era and, of course, before and afterward. Which brings up a question: are there any accounts (be it recorded in a book, news article, documentary, or other media) of private citizens or law enforcement defending themselves during a riot that you found interesting? Why so? Thanks for sharing.

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[Alexx1401]

Not really what you are after here, and I do look forward to some.
One time LEO's fought back that I loved was that one in IIRC MD. During the great unrest of the war in SE Asia. Radicals hold up in some building with heavy weapons. Some top Cop gave the OK to drop an improvised bomb on the place. Cop went up in a chopper and dropped a bomb made from something like several sticks of TNT. Whole roof collapsed putting an end to it all. Even back then the news did not like it and kicked a little. I thought it was pretty damn funny.

 

[nwslopoke]

Most of the time, whether it was the Black Panthers in the 60s or the Bundy's in this era. Civilians in numbers standing ground to government usually ends peaceful, for the moment. Days, weeks or months later it ends bad.

 

[Howard1955]

During the recent riots, there were several televised incidents where drivers had gotten stopped by 'mostly peaceful protesters' in the roadway. A few of the drivers got out of their vehicle with a gun in hand, but as far as I know they didn't shoot anyone.

These folks come to mind:


Rooftop Koreans



Mr. Rittenhouse



The McCloskys


As for the riots in the 1960's, I can't recall.

 

[Hueco]

During the recent riots, there were several televised incidents where drivers had gotten stopped by 'mostly peaceful protesters' in the roadway. A few of the drivers got out of their vehicle with a gun in hand, but as far as I know they didn't shoot anyone.

These folks come to mind:


Rooftop Koreans
View attachment 1237986


Mr. Rittenhouse
View attachment 1237985


The McCloskys
View attachment 1237984

As for the riots in the 1960's, I can't recall.

 

[arakboss]

View attachment 1238001

I see it, the Koreans had an elevated position

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I've been doing some reading about the tumultuous civil rights moment. There was plenty of civil unrest in that era and, of course, before and afterward. Which brings up a question: are there any accounts (be it recorded in a book, news article, documentary, or other media) of private citizens or law enforcement defending themselves during a riot that you found interesting? Why so? Thanks for sharing.

Check out some of Massad Ayoob's videos on YouTube. He references specific examples from the past about legality of defending from a mob and how things have changed now. Can't recall the name of specific videos but shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[wjv]

University of Texas tower shooting. Not a riot but average citizens used hunting rifles to shoot back.

 

[Ura-Ki]

What about the Bonus Army, or the Union Riots ( Ford, Union Carbide, One of the steel plants, cant remember which, one of the big ship builders) of the 20's and 30's!
Then there was the Town who took up arms to protect the outcome of their elections from a crooked politician and police force, cant remember the name of the event, but it was a biggie!
Plenty of accounts of KKK activities in the south, and the various Natural Disasters in the south, mostly preventing looting and other thefts, but also against roving bands of thugs taking advantage of the chaos!
History is full of such accounts, far more then I could name here, let alone even remember!

 

[Diamondback]

Then there was the Town who took up arms to protect the outcome of their elections from a crooked politician and police force, cant remember the name of the event, but it was a biggie!

1946 Battle of Athens, TN.

Battle of Athens (1946) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Battle of Athens

The GIs came home to find that a political machine had taken over their Tennessee county. What they did about it astounded the nation.

www.americanheritage.com

Battle of Athens

www.livingheritagemuseum.org

 

[Ura-Ki]

1946 Battle of Athens, TN.

Battle of Athens (1946) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Battle of Athens

The GIs came home to find that a political machine had taken over their Tennessee county. What they did about it astounded the nation.

www.americanheritage.com

Battle of Athens

www.livingheritagemuseum.org

Yup, dats da wun!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

A couple Massad Ayoob videos:

14 min video about how Mob used to be thought of as a group with shared intent vs now where it is individuals with violent intent hidden within a group of protesters with peaceful intent

55 min video with more detail re antifa examples, what if you are in your car, etc.

 

[CountryGent]

It wasn't really what I was looking for, but I came across a 1971 PBS show that is about tensions between minority communities and law enforcement. In the video, starting about here, there is a debate concerning equipping police officers with "Stoner rifles". Presumably, they mean the AR-15/M-16 pattern rifles. Anyway, I found it passingly interesting from a historical standpoint.

 

[titsonritz]

Yup, dats da wun!

That was the one I was thinking when I read the title.

Also...
https://libcom.org/article/deacons-defense-armed-resistance-and-civil-rights-movement

 

[Cavedweller]

It wasn't really what I was looking for, but I came across a 1971 PBS show that is about tensions between minority communities and law enforcement. In the video, starting about here, there is a debate concerning equipping police officers with "Stoner rifles". Presumably, they mean the AR-15/M-16 pattern rifles. Anyway, I found it passingly interesting from a historical standpoint.

This might be more germane to the topic. Unfortunately, due to the age of the article, many of the links are dead. But it gives you a basic idea of what happened. It was a big deal in LA at the time.

41st and Central, 1969 – The Black Panther Shootout & the birth of SWAT |

witnessla.com

Such encounters with the Black Panthers are credited with the establishment of SWAT teams in police forces around the country.

This Tank-Led 1969 Raid Against The Black Panthers Gave Birth To Militarized Policing

The standoff saw the first deployment of a SWAT team in US history and it forever changed the nature of police departments in America.

allthatsinteresting.com