Riots

A riot is an action of public disorder that extends beyond the actions of mob or those of a [Page 583]demonstration. Riots are unruly acts of violence, often temporary but outside of any everyday activity. Riots result in damage to property and persons who may or may not be part of the riot and may involve people who were not connected to the original reason for which the group assembled. Demonstrations for or against some political object such a government law can be peaceful or might break down into a violent confrontation without constituting a full-blown riot. Mobs might also become violent without indiscriminately damaging property or injuring people. A lynch mob is a mob and might take morally dreadful actions, but can be conducted in an orderly fashion. Riots by their very nature are not orderly and not directed.

Urban riots are not confined to modern occurrences. They date back to biblical times, occurring even in the ancient cities of Gomorrah and Rome. In the United States, riots have occurred since the 1700s. Rioting by lower-class urban citizens even helped start the American Revolution. In early U.S. history, riots occurred in such cities as Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. During period from the 1830s through the 1850s, over 35 serious riots and many minor riots occurred. The government of George I in the United Kingdom passed the Riot Act in 1713 to declare any group of more than 12 people to be unlawfully assembled and have to disperse. “Reading the Riot Act” involved making a proclamation to the assembled crowd, ordering them to disperse within one hour or be arrested. The act was not finally repealed until 1973.

Riots are preceded by a history of tensions between groups. An increase in tensions often results in minor occurrences of violence. A precipitation of tension-filled incidents triggers riots. In the case of race riots, the most common type is the communal riot. In this case a subordinate group, or those supporting a subordinate group, contests the power that another group has over the subordinate group. Riots are a response to the perceptions of or feelings about an event or existing social injustice. Riots often occur when groups of people have lawfully gathered for some protest purposes, but can form at any time where there is tension and there has been some precipitating event. Urban race riots occurred after the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and after the jury acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King in Los Angeles. Prison riots have been precipitated when prisoners reacted to existing oppressive or inhumane prison conditions.

Another common type of riot is the commodity riot, in which the rioters commit acts of looting and property damage. Commodity riots in the United States reached a peak in 1967, when 41 major riots and 123 lesser riots occurred. In reaction to this surge in riot activity, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. This committee identified five main determinant factors that lead to a riot.

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