This was an uprising in a city that was still recovering from the Great Depression. The Detroit race riots of July 25, 1967, where the largest civil disturbance in the history of the United States until they were eclipsed by those in Los Angeles in 1992.

The events  that led to this rebellion began on July 23 when police raided an unlicensed bar at 12th and Clairmount, where about 80 people had gathered to celebrate the safe return of two African American soldiers from Vietnam. The mass arrest of those late-night revelers sparked one of the most deadly and destructive uprisings in the United States.

On July 25, 1967, the incident known as the Algiers Motel Incident took place in Detroit, Michigan. The event at the Algiers Motel commenced two days after the beginning of the race riot in Detroit. 

The uprising  had now continued for two full days. The police had received information that a lone shooter was spotted close to the Algiers Motel, which is located on Woodward Avenue, approximately one mile from the location where the violence had begun many days previously. 

The police officers went into the building. Carl Cooper, Aubrey Pollard, and Fred Temple were all young black guys, and all three of them were murdered.

In three separate instances, three white Detroit police officers, Ronald August, Robert Paille, and David Senak, have been accused of a variety of criminal offenses, including murder, conspiracy, and breaches of federal civil rights laws. 

The Murder at the Algiers Motel

At the Algiers Motel on July 26, the fourth day of the Uprising, three white police officers were responsible for the murder of three innocent African American teenagers. The officers from the Dallas Police Department were among a group of ten law enforcement officers and members of the National Guard who stormed the motel, where they found a mixed-race group of young people and then brutalized and tortured them.

The early morning hours of July 26 found them dead at the Algiers Motel, where they had been murdered by white DPD officers. The three of them had either been employed by Ford or had just recently lost their jobs there. They were just hanging out at the Algiers Motel with two white females and two other black males when a group of white DPD officers and National Guardsmen fired many rounds into the building and then stormed the premises, ostensibly looking for snipers. The unarmed and innocent black youths inside were subjected to brutality, torture, and racial abuse at the hands of the law enforcement officers. The three teenagers who were shot and killed were in a defenseless position when the shots were fired from close range. The officers of the DPD and the other law enforcement officials who were present attempted to cover up what had occurred, but it was eventually discovered. Patrolman Ronald August was charged with murder after shooting and killing Aubrey Pollard, but an all-white jury ultimately found him not guilty of the crime. The case against Patrolman Robert Paille, who was accused of killing Fred Temple, was dismissed by a judge due to the fact that the DPD Homicide Bureau had coerced him into giving a confession without first informing him of his constitutional rights. Patrolman David Senak, who was the ringleader and almost certainly killed Carl Cooper (as well as two other black men in separate incidents during the uprising), was prosecuted for conspiracy, but a judge also dismissed this case against him. Cooper was one of three black men who were killed during the uprising.

Their attempt to conceal what had happened eventually fell apart, but none of the people responsible were ever brought to justice. Carl Cooper, Aubrey Pollard, and Fred Temple were tragically killed in the accident.

About The Three Victims

Carl Cooper

Carl Cooper, who was just 17 years old, was the first person to pass away, perhaps during or maybe before the mass questioning that was taking place in the lobby area. The dead body of Cooper was discovered in room A-2. According to the evidence, Patrolman David Senak was the one who shot and murdered Carl Cooper earlier that evening.

 Cooper\’s words were heard by witnesses right before the gunshot: \”Take me to jail, I have no weapon.\” Later, a law enforcement officer said, \”I\’ve already killed one of them.\” Another version suggests that Cooper was murdered during the first attack on the structure. The prosecutor in Wayne County used this explanation to exonerate Senak and the other individuals who were there at the time of Cooper\’s death.

Fred Temple

The next person to pass away was 18-year-old, Fred Temple. In a subsequent interview with investigators, Patrolman Robert Paille stated, \”I shot one of the other males,\” making it very obvious that he was referring to Temple, and that Patrolman John Senak \”fired practically simultaneously.\” (The statement that Paille made was ultimately deemed inadmissible in court due to suspected improprieties in the homicide investigation.)

The interrogations, beatings, and other forms of torture that were taking place in the lobby lasted for a considerable amount of time.

At some point in time, the law enforcement agents started taking each of the African American adolescents into different rooms, ostensibly with the intention of questioning them on the claimed sniper rifle. They received further blows from the cops when they denied the existence of the alleged weapon. During the course of these events, the State Police evacuated the premises, indicating that they did not wish to be engaged any longer.

After that, the cops played a \”death game,\” which further exacerbated the situation. Theodore Thomas, a warrant officer in the National Guard, was questioned by Patrolman Senak about whether or not he \”wanted to murder one\” and \”wanted to shoot an n——.\” In an effort to coerce the other young man into confessing, Thomas locked Michael Clark in a room with a shotgun and then discharged the weapon into the ceiling. The identical event took place with Roderick Davis. These black teenagers, along with several others, were subjected to physical assault and required medical attention following the incident.

Aubrey Pollard

Aubrey Pollard, who was 19 years old at the time, was then led into a third room by DPD Patrolman Ronald August. According to the findings of the autopsy, Pollard was either kneeling or laying on the ground when he was shot, which ultimately led to his death. After being charged with homicide, Patrolman August changed his account to say that he had shot Pollard in self-defense because the youngster had rushed at him. However, he had already acknowledged to shooting Pollard to homicide detectives. The idea that they were acting in self-defense is completely debunked by the facts.

Immediately following the execution of Aubrey Pollard by Patrolman August, the DPD officers and the rest of their colleagues proceeded to evacuate the hotel. \”Be out of here because I don\’t want to see you get slaughtered like the rest of them,\” the voice said to the survivors who had managed to survive.