Apr. 28, 1962 - Members of the Nation of Islam, sometimes referred to as Black Muslims, clashed with the police in Los Angeles last night in a battle that ended with one Muslim dead and at least 15 injured. The police said that the trouble began when a patrolman stopped to question a man who was selling clothing out of his car in a predominantly Negro district of the city. The patrolman reported that two men jumped him, and when he fired a shot, black-suited Muslims poured out of their headquarters building nearby. It took 75 policemen about 15 minutes to quell the ensuing brawl. One Muslim, Ronald T. Stokes, 28 years old, was fatally shot and 6 others wounded by gunfire. Policeman Frank Tomlinson was shot in the arm, and two other patrolmen were seriously injured. One was hit over the head with a bottle, the other was beaten and kicked in the face. The scene of the violence, Mosque 27, functions as the Los Angeles headquarters for the Nation of Islam. The police have estimated that the group has 3,500 members in Southern California.
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