{"id":10281,"date":"2016-05-10T11:24:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T15:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=10281"},"modified":"2016-05-10T11:46:17","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T15:46:17","slug":"the-station-house-murder-of-riley-bullock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2016\/05\/the-station-house-murder-of-riley-bullock\/","title":{"rendered":"The Station-House Murder of Riley Bullock"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Police,<\/a>
Police, Fire and Patrol Stations, 20th and Federal Streets. (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A day after riots<\/a> shook the city and a few hours after the Polyclinic incident<\/a>, patrolmen Robert Ramsey and John Schneider returned to their station house at 20th and Federal before hitting the streets. Within minutes they encountered Riley Bullock, a 38-year old African-American who lived at 2032 Annin Street.<\/p>\n

Bullock would soon be dead.<\/p>\n

According to one account, Bullock \u201cwas being attacked by a crowd of white men when the two policemen came to his rescue and arrested him.\u201d According to another, Ramsey and Schneider “arrested Bullock while he was going on an errand and committing no crime\u2026\u201d They struggled with Bullock, \u201cwho wielded a razor with such telling effect that Ramsey\u2019s coat was cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one challenged that Ramsey and Schneider severely beat Bullock, who the Inquirer<\/em> described as \u201ca negro rioter.\u201d According to one witness: they \u201cbeat him with all their might and force for about two squares until he reached the station.\u201d Another witness, a Mrs. Williams, \u201ctestified that she saw Ramsay and Schneider beating Bullock at the corner of Titan and Point Breeze Avenue; that they held both of Bullock\u2019s arms up as he walked \u2026 Schneider was beating him with a black jack and Ramsey was beating him with the butt of a revolver\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, “just as soon as they entered the station house door, she heard a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, police said “the bullet which ended Bullocks life was really intended for one of the white policemen\u2026\u201d They claimed Bullock, who was escorted into the station\u2019s rear door, was \u201cshot by \u2018a colored man\u2019 [who] was detected running away from the scene of the murder with a revolver in his hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story soon changed: \u201cIn their haste to open the station house door and escape the threatening mob that followed them,\u201d Officer Ramsey slipped on a step and his \u201crevolver was accidentally discharged and Bullock was struck, receiving injuries that resulted in his death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Point<\/a>
Point Breeze Avenue entrance of the 20th and Federal Street Police Station. October 19, 1949. (PhillyHistory,org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lieutenant Harry Meyers issued the statement: \u201cAs they came up the steps of the police station on the Point Breeze Avenue side, Ramsey, who still had his gun in his hand to keep the pressing crowd at bay, suddenly slipped. The revolver was accidentally discharged and the bullet struck Bullock in the back, piercing his lungs.\u201d Then Meyers added: \u201cRamsey did not shoot the negro because of any malice resulting from the killing of Policeman McVey by Negroes.\u201d And then Meyers \u201cordered all newspaper men from the station house and forbade them to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the following days, \u201cdelegations of Negro clergymen and business men\u201d attempted to meet with the mayor and police officials to send the message<\/a> that \u201cAfro-Americans of this city are tired of legalized murder.\u201d They \u201cput responsibility for the rioting squarely up to the police of the 20th and Federal Streets station, whom they charged with showing sympathy for the white residents of the turbulent area.” They and others organized \u201cThe Colored Protective Association\u201d which retained attorney G. Edward Dickerson \u201cto prosecute Policeman Ramsey,\u201d held at Moyamensing Prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dickerson anticipated the testimony of two African-American policemen in the station house when Ramsey shot Bullock. One officer had even \u201chelped put out the fire which the pistol shot started in Bullock\u2019s clothes\u201d and both had \u201cheard Policeman Ramsey acknowledge that he shot\u201d Bullock. But in court they weren\u2019t reliable witnesses. One of the officers even \u201cswore he never saw Ramsey before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2032<\/a>
2032 Annin Street, home of Riley Bullock, killed by police July 29, 1918. (Google Streetview)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Testimony from the Coroner\u2019s Physician proved the most damaging: “The ball entered into the small part of Bullock\u2019s back and took a downward course through the pelvis [indicating] \u2026that the bullet could not have been accidentally fired when Ramsey slipped going up the steps.” Judge Henry N. Wessel refused bail for Ramsey, who remained in his cell at Moymensing. Wessel criticized the police for their apparent looseness in the investigation and expanded it to include \u201cevery policeman who was in the station house at the time of the shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

A month later, Lieutenant Meyers would be transferred to the Fishtown station at Girard and Montgomery Avenues, and a week after that \u201cthe entire force of policemen at the 17th District Station House\u201d was transferred. \u201cMay the good Lord have mercy on the neighborhood to which this king of thugs has been assigned,\u201d editorialized The Tribune<\/em>\u00a0about Meyers’ move.<\/p>\n

Now we have a mixed force of colored and white officers,\u201d they noted.\u00a0\u201cFor the first time in six weeks colored children have been able to play in front of their homes\u2026colored people can walk home and feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramsey and Schneider lost their jobs and went to trial, but would never serve time for the murder of Riley Bullock. Two years later, they were tried and found “not guilty.” The jury had deliberated for a mere 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

[Sources: \u201cRace Riots Grow In Fury As Police Fail To Curb Mobs, Negro Is Slain at Door of Station House,\u201d The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, July 30, 1918; “Race Riot Area Dry; Detain Policeman In Shooting Probe,” The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, July 31, 1918; \u201cPoliceman is Held after Rioter’s Death,\u201d The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, August 10, 1918; \u201cMeyers Kicked Out 17th District,\u201d by G. Grant Williams, The Philadelphia Tribune<\/em>, August 31, 1918; \u201cEntire 17th District Police Transferred,\u201d The Philadelphia Tribune<\/em>, September 7, 1918; “Judge Rebukes Police For Killing Of Negro,\u201d The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, September 21, 1918; \u201cCoroner Holds Patrolman for Grand Jury,\u201d by G. Grant Williams, The Philadelphia Tribune<\/em>, September 21, 1918; \u201cSchneider Is In The Jail House Now; Prisoner Held Bullock While Ramsey Shot Him,\u201d The Philadelphia Tribune<\/em>, September 2, 1918; \u201cThe Colored Protective Association,\u201d The Philadelphia Tribune<\/em>, September 18, 1918; \u201cEx-Policemen Freed,\u201d The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, December 16, 1920.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

More posts on the South Philadelphia Riot of 1918 here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>, here<\/a>\u00a0and here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A day after riots shook the city and a few hours after the Polyclinic incident, patrolmen Robert Ramsey and John Schneider returned to their station house at 20th and Federal before hitting the streets. Within minutes they encountered Riley Bullock, a 38-year old African-American who lived at 2032 Annin Street. Bullock would soon be dead. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}