Editing Crown Heights (section)

== The Crown Heights Riots ==
In 5751 (1991), anti-Semitic riots developed in which the neighborhood's Black residents violently attacked chassidim and their property. The riots were called the "Crown Heights Riots" or "Crown Heights Pogrom."

In Elul 5751, a car from the Rebbe's entourage, led by an unmarked police car, went through a red or amber light at a speed between 40 and 100 km/h, according to various accounts. The car entered an intersection and hit another vehicle, and the driver of the struck vehicle, who lost control of his car, ran over and injured two Black children, Gavin and Angela Cato, both seven years old. Local spectators gathered at the scene and began shouting slurs at the police and chassidim. A private Jewish ambulance (Hatzalah) arrived at the scene, and police ordered it to evacuate the injured chassidic driver. A few minutes later, city ambulances arrived to evacuate the young children, and a few hours later, Gavin died from his injuries.

For four days following the accident, the neighborhood's Jews were exposed to sadistic anti-Semitic attacks by youths and an angry mob. In one case, Yankel Rosenbaum (29), an Australian student who was then doing research on Bnei Yisroel for a doctorate in history, was stabbed and murdered by a mob. Before his death, Rosenbaum managed to identify his attacker, Lemrick Nelson. A jury acquitted Nelson of murder charges, but after advocacy by the Jewish community and other factors, Nelson was tried in federal court and charged with violating Rosenbaum's civil rights, receiving a sentence of 19.5 years in prison. Another person was charged with inciting Nelson.

Later, a 67-year-old non-Jewish motorcyclist named Anthony Grazioli got caught up in an angry mob after losing his way in the neighborhood. Grazioli was beaten and stabbed all over his body and died on the spot. Apparently, his beard and black clothing misled the attackers, who thought he was a chassidic Jew.

During the events, 188 attacks on Jews were reported, including several serious injuries. Fires were also set and Jewish stores were looted as events spiraled out of control due to incitement by Black figures who used the riots for anti-Semitic racial incitement.