May 30, 1963 - Policemen used tear gas tonight to disperse about 150 Negro youths marching through Tallahassee, Fla., and shouting against segregation. Thirty-seven were arrested, but were released later on $100 bond. Earlier today, about 200 Negroes were arrested in front of the all-white Florida Theater in midtown Tallahassee. The group marched from the Florida A&M College, a Negro institution, to the motion picture theater to protest for the tenth time their exclusion from the theater. The sidewalks opposite the theater were crowded with white spectators and traffic was thick with onlookers. There were a few derisive shouts from young white men as the Negroes were arrested, but most of the white people as well as Negroes stood watching silently. Police headquarters said the marchers dispersed by tear gas were students from Florida A&M and from high schools in the city. It was necessary to use tear gas, the police said, when the angry young Negroes refused to disperse on orders and became more violent in their protests.
Comments