Thread by @1919raceriots

1. Here's what's happened on the first day of the #CardiffRaceRiots:

Wednesday 11th June 1919 was the hottest day of the year☀️. At 10pm 🕙 a group of people in vehicle on #EastCanalWharf near #CustomHouseStreet.

2. The vehicle had a number of people in there. There were men of colour and their white wives. It got a considerable amount of attention from a group of white men on the street when it reached Cahanal Parade Bridge. A police constable arrived at the scene

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

3. And then, another break of coloured men and their wives arrived in #Cardiff Central. Sometime during this commotion, some of the people exited the vehicles on #CanalParadeBridge in #CardiffCentral to the extremely hostile crowd.

4. All of a sudden, the men of colour were on the southern side of #CanalParadeBridge and the white men were on the northern side. A fight broke out soon after. It was awful. People were using sticks, razors, tones, anything really.

5. There were allegations that the crowd were shouting 💬"Come on, set about them". The police constable tried trying really hard to maintain order on #CanalParade in #Cardiff 👮‍♀️. More police were drafted in at some point.

#1919RaceRiots

6. The men of colour had guns on them, and used them to defend themselves. A few shots were fired. The police dispersed everyone, but they just went to #CustomHouseStreet. More revolvers went off. Here's a photo of #CustomHouseStreet

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

7. A man of colour was stabbed in the abdomen. All of the men of colour ran to Butetown and the police tried their best to stop the white crowd going southbound #ButeStreet. But some of them were determined, got there anyway, smashed windows and hit doors

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

8. Here's an image of where the fight started, and where they were dispersed before the disturbances went south

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

9. Some people of colour took refuge on #ButeStreet, #HopeStreet and #HomfrayStreet in #Cardiff. A house was set on fire on #HomfrayStreet. It's really hot and really close. There was a huge storm brewing⛈️⛈️⛈️

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

10. At the same time, there were a series of disturbances on #CarolineStreet in #Cardiff, also known as #ChippyLane 🍟. A man called Harold Smart received a "fatal wound in the throat at the hands of a coloured man; two white men received serious cuts on their heads and back

11. and eleven other people received minor injuries".

This is directly from a #leaked police report that was handed 2 us by an insider source. The police allege in this document the crowd on #ChippyLane 🍟 heard the revolvers fired from #CustomHouseStreet

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

12. Ergo, according to the police reports the crowd were enraged by the death of 20 year old Charles Smart and came to #CustomHouseStreet from #ChippyLane 🍟 looking for trouble. He was only 20 years old.

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

13. They "displayed a great deal of hostility towards coloured men+whenever they learned of the approach of coloured men, they rushed from point 2 point in a riotous manner and used violence towards any coloured men upon whom they could lay hands"

-Police

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

14. The police report doesn't discuss what's happened on #CarolineStreet/ #ChippyLane 🍟 whatsoever. By 🕦 eleven o'clock in the evening, there was absolutely no damage to anything anywhere. That wasn't for long.

15. A mob looked for the coloured man responsible for Smart's death, but I'm not sure that they found the person responsible.

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

16. The white crowds, angered by the fact that they couldn't get to Butetown, tore through #HomfrayStreet and #HopeStreet near #CustomHouseStreet and #ButeStreet. A large of number of boarding houses occupied by #Arabs, #WestAfricans+#Somalis are located on that street 🇳🇬🇬🇭🇸🇴🇾🇪

16. A mob did broke into two houses and committed a tremendous amount of damage. The people inside, out of desperation, fired their revolvers in self defence against the crowd, probably in an effort to get them to disperse.

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

17. A house by a coloured man had been ransacked, though none of the inhabitants had been the major targets. This house was at the corner of Adam Street and Morgan street. The #American🇺🇸 naval patrol were called and arrived to try and enforce order

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

18. It quietened down after that. A huge storm broke out, with the rains quelling the rioting for at least the next few hours until midday at Thursday 12th June 1919

#CardiffRaceRiots1919

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