1968 Pittsburgh riots

The 1968 Pittsburgh riots were a series of urban disturbances that erupted in Pittsburgh on April 5, 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King. Pittsburgh, along with 110 other cities, burned for several days and 3,600 National Guardsmen were needed to quell the disorder.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

1968 Pittsburgh riots
Part of the King assassination riots
Date	April 5–11, 1968
Location	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Caused by	Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Resulted in	Property destroyed, order restored
Parties
Rioters Pittsburgh Police Department Pennsylvania National Guard
Casualties
Death(s)	1
Injuries	36
Arrested	1,000

Overview

The neighborhoods most impacted were the Hill District, North Side, and Homewood. More than one hundred businesses were either vandalized or looted with arsonists setting 505 fires.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

One person was killed and thirty-six were injured.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Aftermath

After six days, order was finally restored on April 11, with property damage surpassing $600,000 (equivalent to $5.43 million in 2024). One thousand arrests were made by law enforcement. Many of the neighborhoods impacted never fully recovered in the following decades.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

See also

• List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States

Other Civil Rights-Era riots in Pennsylvania

• 1964 Philadelphia Riot
• 1969 York Riot