In the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968, this site was at the epicenter of grief and anger that overtook downtown Trenton. Remembered as the 1968 Riot, protests led to several days of violence, fires and looting, leaving hundreds of businesses destroyed, people and first responders injured. Brave citizens stepped forward to quell the mob, including a young seminary student, Harlan Joseph, who ran from his home on Carroll Street to plead for peace and was tragically killed. The efforts to restore calm by Rev. S. Howard Woodson and Albert “Bo” Robinson were credited at the time for stemming the rampage to bring about an uneasy peace in a turbulent year.
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