Biden to designate national monument at site of Illinois race riot

The Big Story

Biden to designate national monument at site of Illinois race riot

President Biden will designate a national monument this week at the site of racist mob violence in 1908 in Springfield, Ill., the White House confirmed Wednesday.

© AP Photo/Evan Vucci

A White House official told The Hill the president will issue the designation in the Oval Office on Friday, the 116th anniversary of the end of the violence. Biden is expected to be accompanied by civil rights leaders and elected officials for the proclamation.

The Springfield Race Riot began Aug. 14, 1908, when about 5,000 white men gathered outside the local jail to demand two Black men, one accused of raping a white woman and the other of killing a white man, be turned over to them.

When they learned the police had covertly transferred the two men to the Bloomington, Ill., jail, they instead stormed the city’s Black neighborhoods and attacked Black Springfield residents, looting Black-owned businesses and the restaurant of a white business owner who aided in moving the prisoners.

Over the next 48 hours, eight Black men were killed, while five white men were killed by rioters and state militia, and more than 35 businesses were destroyed.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

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