Shooting of Vivian Strong

Last updated

Shooting of Vivian Strong
VivianStrong.jpg
Strong depicted in an undated photo.
DateJune 24, 1969
Time10:35 pm
Location1701 North 21st Street, Omaha, Nebraska
Also known asLogan Fontenelle Homes Housing Project
CausePolice shooting
ParticipantsJames Loder
OutcomeDeath
DeathsVivian Strong
BurialMount Hope Cemetery, Omaha
ChargesManslaughter

On June 24, 1969, Vivian Strong, a 14-year-old African American girl, was killed in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, when a white police officer shot her in the back of the head without warning. The white police officer, and his Black partner, had been dispatched to the location because there were "juveniles breaking in." When they arrived at the scene a small group of teenagers fled out of an abandoned apartment where they had been dancing. The killing sparked three days of riots in Omaha's predominantly African-American Northeast neighborhood.

Contents

After being suspended and then fired, the officer was charged with and pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. After the case, in which he personally testified, he was acquitted by an all-white jury and served two more years on the Omaha police force.

The shooting has since been showcased in several theatrical adaptations.

Vivian Strong

The daughter of James and Kasie Strong, [1] Vivian was born on December 24, 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [2] She attended Tech Jr. High in Omaha, Nebraska and planned to become a secretary, but because of a heart condition she developed in 1964 (a leaky aortic valve), [3] her attendance was irregular. [2] She routinely visited local hospitals and care facilities; for example in January 1964 she stayed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for over a month (January 23 - February 27), and from April to November of the same year, she was a "bed patient" at Hattie B. Munroe Home. [2] She had one sister and six brothers. [4] A childhood friend described her as, "so sweet" and "a good friend to everybody." [5]

Shooting

On June 24, 1969, no more than nine teenagers gathered, played music, and danced at a party hosted in a vacant apartment in the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project. [6] [7] Following a call to police about a suspected robbery, two officers arrived, and the teenagers fled out of the back door. [6] [8] [3] James Loder—the white officer of the two—shot into the fleeing group without warning, which struck the then 14-year old Strong in the back of the head, killing her. [6] [9] [10] Both James W. Smith—Loder's African American partner—and Strong's sister, Carol, asked Loder, "Why did you shoot her?", but he did not reply. [3]

In the first news article about the incident, which appeared on the cover of the Omaha World Herald on June 25, 19-year old Linda Bradley, Strong's babysitter at the time, said, "We were playing records in the alley. We do it all the time. I even went around to the neighbors to see that it would be alright." She said when the police arrived they "went to see what was going on," and she concluded by saying Loder "shot her right in the head. He didn't holler, or shoot in the air or anything. There was only one shot." [11]

Community response

Building protected by the Black Panthers during the 1969 unrest. SE Corner view of Omaha Star Building.jpg
Building protected by the Black Panthers during the 1969 unrest.

Unrest followed for three days [12] in Omaha's Northeast neighborhood, resulting in 88 injuries and over one million dollars in property damage [13] [14] [15] [16] and making national headlines. [17] [18] [19] In just those three days, fifty-six arrests were made, all of them being African-Americans. [20] During the riots, the Black Panthers, armed with weapons, protected Black churches and the local Black newspaper, the Omaha Star . [21]

Within the week, on June 28, 30 Black and white women accused police of brutality in the Near North Side of Omaha, and of having a double standard for the treatment of white and Black people. [22] The police chief denied both charges and talked to the delegation for over an hour. One of the women argued that police should give more attention to psychiatric screening of recruits before they are sent into the field. [22] Similarly, two days later, Omaha Mayor Eugene Leahy met with a delegation of 15 African-American women, who complained about discrimination by the police; in response, the Mayor said their grievances would "be studied and analyzed". [23]

Several days after the killing, activist Ernie Chambers called on the city to pay damages of $100,000 to the parents of Strong. Mayor Leahy responded by saying it was "ridiculous" and, "I'm not saying the $100,000 figure is ridiculous for a girl's life but it is ridiculous to demand that the city pay it," saying instead the remedy would be appropriately found in court. [24] Members of the United Presbyterian Church contributed approximately $300 to the family of Strong, [25] and approximately 35 Omaha policemen and firemen, most of whom were African American, contributed $150. [26]

Funeral

Strong was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. Reverend General R. Woods, president of the Coordinating Committee for the Civil Liberties in Omaha, spoke at the funeral and said the death of Strong was due to "the actions as well as the inactions of the police, the city council, members of the legislature and citizens of Nebrakska." [1] Nebraska state senator Edward Danner said, "I feel ashamed to stand here today because I tried so hard in my legislative efforts." [1] Senator Danner had tried to persuade the legislature to pass an amendment that would have made police more responsible for their actions. [1]

Initially, Police Chief Richard R. Anderson indicated Loder would be suspended for 15 days and then fired. [27] [28] Loder was released from jail on a $500 bond, [6] and Local 531 of the AFL-CIO Employees Union contributed at least $3,000 to Loder's defense. [29]

He entered a plea of "not guilty" to the charge of manslaughter. [30] In the time period between the shooting and court case, Loder sought reinstatement by the City Personnel Board, but the board chose to withhold action pending the outcome of the criminal case. [31]

Preliminary hearing

Children playing at the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project (1938) Pwa-public-works-administration-housing-projects-for-negroes-omaha-nebraska.jpg
Children playing at the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project (1938)

Since officials banned all statements following the shooting, it was not until the preliminary hearing that the public heard Loder's version of what happened. [32] Loder's statement, taken three hours after the shooting, was read in court, saying, "If I had known it was a female, I wouldn't have fired the shot." [32] Loder claimed he called out three times to the fleeing person, "Stop or I'll shoot." [33] During his testimony, Officer Smith said, "I believe Officer Loder said something like 'halt' or 'stop'." [34]

On the second day of the preliminary hearing, the defense raised two motions to dismiss charges against Officer Loder, though these were rejected. [33] On that same day, the judge commented from the bench to clarify that entering the vacant apartment at 1701 North 21st Avenue Plaza, a vacant apartment, was not a felony because it had not been established whether the front or back doors were locked. [33]

A total of 21 witnesses were called by the state during the preliminary hearing. Two witnesses, ages 12 and 24, were dismissed when they started "sobbing" while testifying. [33] Judge Simon A. Simon presided over the hearing, the county attorney was Donald Knowles, and the defense attorneys were Joseph J. Vance and Paul Watts. [35]

Loder was ordered to stand trial for manslaughter in Douglas County District Court after a four-day preliminary hearing. [36] After announcing his decision, Judge Simon said, "After we adjourn and everybody clears this courtroom, I don't want anything done or said that will offend the defendant or any police officer. I don't want any arguments or remarks made to provoke an argument in the courtroom or in the halls of the third floor of City Hall." [36] Afterward, in an interview, Judge Simon said he relied heavily upon a 1929 Nebraska Supreme Court decision in the case of Broquet vs. The State of Nebraska. In that case, the Supreme Court asked the jury to consider, "A police officer, in arresting one who is guilty of a misdemeanor, may use such force as, to an ordinarily prudent person, appears reasonably necessary under the circumstances, even to the taking of life; but, if the officer slay the offender while effecting his arrest, the question as to whether he used more force than was, under the circumstances, reasonably necessary." [37]

Trial

James Loder's trial for manslaughter began on Monday, March 9, 1970, with District Court Judge Lawrence C. Krell. [38] The defense lawyers were Joseph J. Vance and Paul Watts. The county attorney was Donald Knowles and the deputy attorney was Lawrence Corrigan. [39] Loder faced a possible prison sentence of one to ten years. [38] 32-witnesses were called to testify by the state. [40]

During opening remarks, Corrigan said the original call made to police mentioned "juveniles breaking in." He said that when Loder chased Strong, there were "children all over", but that Loder had not called for the fleeing person to halt. But for the defense, Watts argued that there was no mention of juveniles in the original call to Car 206, but instead, "parties breaking in now," and that Loder had indeed called out a command to halt three times before firing. He also noted Loder's more than ten years of experience with the police and military. [39]

His partner, Smith, testified that he heard Loder shout, "'Hey halt, stop' or something like that", while all other witnesses said Loder gave no warning. [41] One witness stated that when Loder pulled his gun, one child playing in the area shouted, "Don't shoot her mister!" [41]

Loder and his partner both testified that the call to Car 206 said, "parties are breaking in." [42] [43] But radio dispatchers had said—as recordings of the calls proved—"juveniles breaking in." [43]

On Thursday, March 12, Sheriff Janing of Douglas County was visited by FBI agents in his office, saying that the agents expressed concern about out-of-town Black "militants" in Omaha, possibly to "exploit the Loder case". [44] Also on the fourth day, Lew Davis, a member of the National Committee to Combat Fascism, read a statement in the courthouse lobby: "Black people have gathered here at the courthouse for the trial of James Loder to show that we are dissatisfied with the way that the Loder case is being dealt with. Namely, that the prosecution and the defense lawyers are cooperating very clearly in an attempt to get Loder acquitted." [44]

Early on the fifth day, a telephoned bomb threat shut down the courtroom, but following a search, nothing was found. [40] Afterward, one member of the jury was dismissed and replaced, [40] and the state rested its case. [40] The defense attorney asked that the trial be dismissed because the "state had failed to prove its case"; Judge Krell took it under advisement. [40] In rebuttal, county attorney Knowles argued that if Strong committed any crime prior to Loder's arrival—such as her entry in the apartment—it was a misdemeanor and did not call for the use of force. [45]

Loder testimony

Loder testified on the sixth day of the trial, Monday, March 16, on the stand for approximately an hour. [46] After receiving a dispatch to investigate a break-in, Loder said that he and his partner drove quickly without sirens or lights to the location, about ten blocks away. [46] The area was dimly lit and his partner, Smith, was arresting one young person while Loder ran into a playground area to the south, in which he heard a thump and turned around. [46] There, he saw someone haunched over, outside a window. [46] He pursued the person around a corner and through a backyard area, shouting (according to Loder) three times for the fleeing person to halt, or he would shoot. "I drew my weapon, I fired one shot," he said. [46] Apparently afraid the person was getting away, he testified that he needed to shoot. [46] On the stand he denied testimony from other witnesses that he had kicked Strong's body to turn her over. Instead, he said he lifted her arm to turn her partway over, to look for a wound, but did not find one. [46]

Verdict

On March 17, 1970, after approximately 12 hours of deliberation, [47] an all-white jury of six men and six women acquitted James Loder of manslaughter. [48] One juror said, "It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I felt that if you don't give police the authority to act we are just not going to have any law and order at all." [49] Of the acquittal, Strong's mother said,

He did wrong. They [the jury] did wrong. ... If it would have been a white girl shot by a black policeman, he'd be serving time right now. [48]

James Loder after the verdict

Loder returned to the police force, where he served for two more years. [6] The Omaha World Herald published an editorial on 2 April 1970, that disagreed with the decision to reinstate Loder to the police force,

With all allowance for the difficulties which the board faced in reaching it, we do not believe reinstatement was the right decision. [50]

After serving at a desk job for many months, on February 1, 1971, Loder was assigned to a patrol cruiser from 6 PM to 2 AM in a police district that included Near North Omaha, the location of Strong's shooting. [51] The reassignment was made public, and complaints were made to the mayor of Omaha and governor of Nebraska, and Loder was subsequently assigned to patrol the west side of Omaha. [52]

On Monday, November 29, 1971, Loder was fired by police Chief Richard Andersen for a series of rule infractions, including failure to appear in court to testify as a city witness, misuse of police radio, insubordination to a sergeant, and failure to pass uniform inspection. [53]

1938 photo from the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project in Omaha, Nebraska. Pwa-public-works-administration-housing-project-for-negroes-omaha-nebraska.jpg
1938 photo from the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project in Omaha, Nebraska.

Loder was the estranged natural son of Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr and actor John Loder, who had both claimed him as their adopted son. Lamarr had done so in 1941, long before marrying Loder, in order to conceal his illegitimacy. [54]

Aftermath

Strong's parents were divorced at the time of the shooting. During the unrest, her father, James Strong, said,

I've been very confused this week. Our whole family took Vivian's death very hard. All this trouble doesn't help at all. — J. Strong (1969) [55]

One of Strong's younger sisters, Carol, was with her when she was killed; Carol did not receive any counseling afterward. Her mother had a nervous breakdown, and Carol subsequently took over the care of her younger brothers and sisters. [6] [3]

In March 1970, approximately nine months after the deadly shooting, Strong's mother, Kasie Strong, sued James Loder for $75,000 in district court for future loss of "earnings, support, and service". [56]

Strong's 17 year-old brother, Orlando, was fined $100 and sentenced to 90 days in jail after throwing a rock toward a police cruiser on April 10, 1970, less than a month after the Strong verdict. [57] [58] Later the same year, on October 25, 1970, Orlando published a poem about the shooting of his sister in the classified newspaper section of the Omaha World Herald . [59] The poem ends with the four lines

He could have fired a warning shot
as he gunned her down in a very small lot.
What a price for suspicion of burglary
and Loder walked away – scott free.

Legacy

Vivian Strong Street

In April 2023 the Omaha City Council voted unanimously to name 21st Street from Clark Street to Paul Street, "Vivian Strong Street." [60] On June 16, 2023, the Vivian Strong Street sign was unveiled. [61]

Vivian Strong Memorial Liberation School

The summer of Strong's death, the Black Panther Party (BPP) established the Vivian Strong Memorial Liberation School. [62] The BPP established Liberation Schools in several US cities. The school in Omaha may have operated for only a week before it closed down. [62]

Theater

Sometime between 1969 and 1972, the Afro Academy of Dramatic Arts [63] [64] in Omaha presented a play written by Reverend Darryl Eure comparing the killing of Strong to Emmett Till. [65]

Since then, two plays have been produced about Strong. Monica Bauer's 2019 play, Vivian's Music: 1969, imagines the last days of her life; it won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival [66] and was produced off-off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in New York City. [67] Christopher Maly's 2018 play, The Blues of Knowing Why, was a "community account" of her short life based on interviews with friends, family, media, and members of resistance organizations, produced in Omaha's Union for Contemporary Arts. [68] [69]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Hampton</span> African-American activist (1948–1969)

Fredrick "Chairman Fred" Allen Hampton Sr. was an American activist. He came to prominence in his late teens and very early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and chair of the Illinois chapter. As a progressive African American, he founded the anti-racist, anti-classist Rainbow Coalition, a prominent multicultural political organization that initially included the Black Panthers, Young Patriots, and the Young Lords, and an alliance among major Chicago street gangs to help them end infighting and work for social change. A Marxist–Leninist, Hampton considered fascism the greatest threat, saying, "nothing is more important than stopping fascism, because fascism will stop us all."

The Algiers Motel incident occurred in Detroit, Michigan, United States, throughout the night of July 25–26, 1967, during the racially charged 12th Street Riot. At the Algiers Motel, approximately one mile east of where the riot began, three civilians were killed and nine others abused by a riot task force composed of the Detroit Police Department, the Michigan State Police, and the Michigan Army National Guard. Among the casualties were three black teenage boys killed, and two white women and seven black men wounded as a result. The task force was searching the area after reports were received that a gunman or group of gunmen, possibly snipers, had been seen at or near the motel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernie Chambers</span> American politician

Ernest William Chambers is an American politician and civil rights activist who represented North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature from 1971 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2021. He could not run in 2020 due to term limits.

David Rice and Edward Poindexter were African-American activists charged and convicted of the murder of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard. Minard died when a suitcase bomb containing dynamite exploded in a North Omaha home on August 17, 1970. Officer John Tess was also injured in the explosion. Poindexter and Rice had been members of the Black Panther Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Eleanor Bumpurs</span> 1984 shooting death of an African-American woman by NYPD

On October 29, 1984, Eleanor Bumpurs was shot and killed by the New York Police Department (NYPD). The police were present to enforce a city-ordered eviction of Bumpurs, an elderly, disabled African American woman, from her New York Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing apartment at 1551 University Avenue in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx.

The civil rights movement in Omaha, Nebraska, has roots that extend back until at least 1912. With a history of racial tension that starts before the founding of the city, Omaha has been the home of numerous overt efforts related to securing civil rights for African Americans since at least the 1870s.

The timeline of racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska lists events in African-American history in Omaha. These included racial violence, but also include many firsts as the black community built its institutions. Omaha has been a major industrial city on the edge of what was a rural, agricultural state. It has attracted a more diverse population than the rest of the state. Its issues were common to other major industrial cities of the early 20th century, as it was a destination for 19th and 20th century European immigrants, and internal white and black migrants from the South in the Great Migration. Many early 20th-century conflicts arose out of labor struggles, postwar social tensions and economic problems, and hiring of later immigrants and black migrants as strikebreakers in the meatpacking and stockyard industries. Massive job losses starting in the 1960s with the restructuring of the railroad, stockyards and meatpacking industries contributed to economic and social problems for workers in the city.

Racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska occurred mostly because of the city's volatile mixture of high numbers of new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and African-American migrants from the Deep South. While racial discrimination existed at several levels, the violent outbreaks were within working classes. Irish Americans, the largest and earliest immigrant group in the 19th century, established the first neighborhoods in South Omaha. All were attracted by new industrial jobs, and most were from rural areas. There was competition among ethnic Irish, newer European immigrants, and African-American migrants from the South, for industrial jobs and housing. They all had difficulty adjusting to industrial demands, which were unmitigated by organized labor in the early years. Some of the early labor organizing resulted in increasing tensions between groups, as later arrivals to the city were used as strikebreakers. In Omaha as in other major cities, racial tension has erupted at times of social and economic strife, often taking the form of mob violence as different groups tried to assert power. Much of the early violence came out of labor struggles in early 20th century industries: between working class ethnic whites and immigrants, and blacks of the Great Migration. Meatpacking companies had used the latter for strikebreakers in 1917 as workers were trying to organize. As veterans returned from World War I, both groups competed for jobs. By the late 1930s, however, interracial teams worked together to organize the meatpacking industry under the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA). Unlike the AFL and some other industrial unions in the CIO, UPWA was progressive. It used its power to help end segregation in restaurants and stores in Omaha, and supported the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Women labor organizers such as Tillie Olsen and Rowena Moore were active in the meatpacking industry in the 1930s and 1940s, respectively.

The Black Association for Nationalism Through Unity, or BANTU, was a youth activism group focused on black power and nationalism in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1960s. Its name is a reference to the Bantu peoples of Southern Africa.

The Logan Fontenelle Housing Project was a historic public housing site located from 20th to 24th Streets, and from Paul to Seward Streets in the historic Near North Side neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was built in 1938 by the Public Works Administration for housing working-class families. With the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in the 1950s and 1960s, the project became filled with families on welfare. As problems increased in the 1970s and 1980s, Logan Fontenelle was referred to as "Little Vietnam" because of drug dealing and gang violence. After Logan Fontenelle residents won a 1991 civil rights lawsuit brought against the Omaha Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD tore down the projects in 1995 to replace them with new, lower density housing.

Crime in Omaha, Nebraska has varied widely, ranging from Omaha's early years as a frontier town with typically widespread gambling and prostitution, to civic expectation of higher standards as the city grew, and contemporary concerns about violent crimes related to gangs and dysfunctions of persistent unemployment, poverty and lack of education among some residents.

Joe Coe, also known as George Smith, was an African-American laborer who was lynched on October 10, 1891, in Omaha, Nebraska. Overwhelmed by a mob of one thousand at the Douglas County Courthouse, the twelve city police officers stood by without intervening. Afterward, the mayor called the lynching "the most deplorable thing that has ever happened in the history of the country."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Aiyana Jones</span> 2010 police shooting of a child in Detroit

Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley-Jones was a seven-year-old African-American girl from Detroit's East Side who was shot in the neck and killed by police officer Joseph Weekley during a raid conducted by the Detroit Police Department's Special Response Team. The Team was targeting a suspect in the apartment a floor above Jones' on May 16, 2010. Her death drew national media attention and led U.S. Representative John Conyers to ask U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for a federal investigation into the incident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha Police Department</span> Law enforcement agency of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, United States

The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The OPD is the largest law enforcement agency in the state of Nebraska.

State of Florida v. George Zimmerman was a criminal prosecution of George Zimmerman on the charge of second-degree murder stemming from the killing of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Justine Damond</span> 2017 police killing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

On July 15, 2017, Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian-American woman, was fatally shot by 31-year-old Somali-American Minneapolis Police Department officer Mohamed Noor after she had called 9-1-1 to report the possible assault of a woman in an alley behind her house. Occurring weeks after a high-profile manslaughter trial acquittal in the 2016 police killing of Philando Castile, also in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the shooting exacerbated existing tensions and attracted national and international press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Greg Gunn</span> 2016 shooting by police in Montgomery, Alabama

The killing of Greg Gunn occurred on the morning of February 25, 2016, in Montgomery, Alabama. Gunn, a 58-year-old African-American man, was shot and killed near his home after fleeing from a stop-and-frisk initiated by Aaron Cody Smith, a white police officer. Smith was charged with murder and indicted by a grand jury in 2016. The case came to trial in late 2019 following a change of venue to Ozark, Alabama. Smith was found guilty of manslaughter, and, in January 2020, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing operations. Three Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers—Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove—were involved in the shooting. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was inside the apartment with her when the plainclothes officers knocked on the door and then forced entry. The officers said that they announced themselves as police before forcing entry, but Walker said he did not hear any announcement, thought the officers were intruders, and fired a warning shot at them. The shot hit Mattingly in the leg, and the officers fired 32 shots in return. Walker was unhurt but Taylor, who was behind Walker, was hit by six bullets and died. During the incident, Hankison moved to the side of the apartment and shot 10 bullets through a covered window and glass door. According to police, Taylor's home was never searched.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of James Scurlock</span> Shooting in Omaha, Nebraska in 2020

On May 30, 2020, James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black male protester, was fatally shot by a 38-year-old bar owner, Jacob "Jake" Gardner. The shooting took place during George Floyd protests in Omaha, Nebraska, in the Old Market area of the city. Scurlock had been among the thousands of protesters who flooded the city's downtown area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Floyd protests in Nebraska</span> 2020 civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd

This is a list of protests and unrests in the US state of Nebraska related to the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Young Girl Slain by Cops is Buried". Daily Defender. July 2, 1969. p. 8.
  2. 1 2 3 "Victim Was Always on the Go" . Omaha World Herald. June 25, 1969. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Howard, Ashley (2006). Then the Burning Began: Omaha, riots, and the growth of black radicalism, 1966-1969. Omaha, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 82.
  4. ↑ "Omaha is calm but on alert". Alliance Daily-Times Herald. AP. 30 June 1969. p. 1.
  5. ↑ Ibrahim, Helen Howard and Bousaina (18 December 2022). "North Omaha Community Remembers the Innocence of Vivian Strong". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wisch, Robyn (19 June 2009). "Remembering Vivian Strong". Nebraska Public Media. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  7. ↑ "Six Danced in Vacant Rooms; Union Starts Fund for Loder". Omaha World Herald. July 1, 1969. p. 6.
  8. ↑ "Wead: Negro Feels Girls' Life Worth More than Bread". Omaha Star. 1969 – via The History Harvest.
  9. ↑ Holzfaster, Sydnie (2020-06-24). "51 years later Omaha remembers Vivian Strong". KPTM. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  10. ↑ Chatelain, Dirk (22 July 2019). "Memories may fade, but the legends of North Omaha can never be forgotten". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  11. ↑ "Negro Girl Killed By a Police Bullet at Housing Project". Omaha World Herald. June 25, 1969. p. 1.
  12. ↑ "Peace plea made at funeral; judge threatened". Lincoln Evening Journal & Nebraska State Journal. AP. 1 July 1969. p. 23.
  13. ↑ "Miss Strong is buried amid pleas for peace ... elder Foster blames government 'giants'". The Lincoln Star. UPI. 1 July 1969. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Graham, Kevin M. (2010). Beyond redistribution : White supremacy and racial justice. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN   9780739130964. OCLC   459209892.
  15. ↑ "Preston Love Jr.: Understand North Omaha's past to chart the best course for the future". Omaha.com. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  16. ↑ "17 of 20 Torched Targets White-Owned Businesses". Omaha World Herald. June 29, 1969. p. 8-B.
  17. ↑ "Father of Slain Girl Calls for Race Peace". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. June 28, 1969. p. 6.
  18. ↑ "Negro Girl Shot, Omaha Mayor Alerts State National Guard". The Kentucky Kernel. June 26, 1969.
  19. ↑ Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 1969-07-10.
  20. ↑ "Fire, Looting Follow Girl's Slaying". Omaha World Herald. June 29, 1969. p. 15-A.
  21. ↑ "Courtney Allen-Gentry: Vivian Strong's killing in North Omaha in 1969 left a stain on my soul". Omaha.com. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  22. 1 2 "Police Keep Watch as Disorders Ease". Omaha World Herald. June 29, 1969. p. 8-B.
  23. ↑ "Thousands Mourn Slain Negro Girl". Omaha World Herald. June 30, 1969. p. 2.
  24. ↑ "Leahy Says Killing Remedy in Courts". Omaha World Herald. June 27, 1969.
  25. ↑ "Gift for Kin of Slain Girl". Omaha World Herald. July 8, 1969.
  26. ↑ "Police, Firemen Aid Strong Fund". Omaha World Herald. July 23, 1969. p. 8.
  27. ↑ "Loder is Held in Gun Death of Negro Girl". Omaha World Herald. 1969.
  28. ↑ "Omaha World Herald - Evening Edition". June 25, 1969. p. 1.
  29. ↑ "Omaha Union Aids Officer: Fired Policeman to Face Charges". The Oregonian. July 2, 1969. p. 3.
  30. ↑ "Loder's Plea 'Innocent' in Killing". Omaha World Herald. June 26, 1969. p. 2.
  31. ↑ "Officer with Loder Testifies at Hearing". Omaha World Herald. September 9, 1969.
  32. 1 2 "Loder: 'Halt! Was shouted three times'". Omaha World Herald. September 10, 1969. p. 1.
  33. 1 2 3 4 "Judge Denies Dismissal: Loder's Hearing Will Continue". Omaha World Herald. September 11, 1969.
  34. ↑ "Witnesses Differ in Vivian Strong's Presence at Party". Omaha World Herald. September 10, 1969.
  35. ↑ "Contradictory Line Marks Loder Case". Omaha world Herald. September 11, 1969.
  36. 1 2 "Judge Orders Loder Trial Be Set Soon". Omaha World Herald. September 17, 1969.
  37. ↑ Stoddart, Henry P. (1930). Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Nebraska: January and September Terms, 1929 (PDF). Claflin Printing Company.
  38. 1 2 "Loder Trial Opens; Jury Gets Two Views". Omaha World Herald. March 10, 1970.
  39. 1 2 "Photo taker chased from death scene". Omaha World Herald. March 10, 1970.
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 "Loder Juror Released, Another Man Selected". Omaha World Herald. March 13, 1970.
  41. 1 2 "Policeman's Testimony Contradicted: Four Say Loder Didn't Warn". Omaha World Herald. March 12, 1970.
  42. ↑ "Two Youths Testify in Girl's Death Case". Omaha World Herald. March 11, 1970.
  43. 1 2 "Loder Jury Facing More Deliberation". Omaha World Herald. March 17, 1970.
  44. 1 2 "Loder Trial to Resume after 'Legal' Delay". Omaha World Herald. March 13, 1970.
  45. ↑ "Loder Case Said to be Near Jury". Omaha World Herald. March 14, 1970.
  46. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hoig, Robert (March 16, 1969). "Loder Shouted Before Firing, He Tells Court". Omaha World Herald. p. 1.
  47. ↑ Hoig, Robert (March 18, 1970). "Freed Loder will try to get back on force". Omaha World Herald (Morning ed.).
  48. 1 2 Jim, Pedersen (March 20, 1970). "The Strong shooting". The Daily Nebraskan .
  49. ↑ Hoig, Robert (March 18, 1970). "Loder's jurors 'slept on verdict'". Omaha World Herald . p. 1.
  50. ↑ "[editorial]". Omaha World Herald . 2 April 1970.
  51. ↑ "Loder will return to duty in cruiser". Omaha World Herald . January 20, 1970.
  52. ↑ "Loder takes first step to appeal second firing". Omaha World Herald (Evening ed.). November 30, 1971.
  53. ↑ "Chief fires James Loder second time". Omaha World Herald (Morning ed.). November 30, 1971. p. 1.
  54. ↑ Stutzman, Rene (2000-10-30). "Court to weigh plea of Lamarr's estranged son". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  55. ↑ "Girl's father wants end to violence". Omaha World Herald (Morning ed.). July 28, 1969. p. 1.
  56. ↑ "Loder sued for $75,000". Omaha World Herald . March 7, 1970.
  57. ↑ "Captain says JFK Center risk to police". Omaha World Herald . April 12, 1970. p. 1.
  58. ↑ "Rock tosser fined $100, sent to jail". Omaha World Herald . June 20, 1970.
  59. ↑ Strong, Orlando (October 25, 1970). "In Memoriam". Omaha World Herald . Classified advertising.
  60. ↑ Fraser, Quanecia (2023-04-20). "'We still deal with things like that today': Omaha City Council approves naming of 'Vivian Strong Street' in honor of young girl shot by an Omaha police officer". KETV. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  61. ↑ Whitney, Alex (16 June 2023). "Omaha city leaders honor the legacy of Vivian Strong with street naming". KMTV. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  62. 1 2 "What Happened to Omaha's Liberation School? By Dawaune Hayes". NOISE. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  63. ↑ "African Americans -- Social conditions -- Omaha (Neb.) | Archives @ DU Catalog". duarchives.coalliance.org. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  64. ↑ "Dramatic Arts - Invisible Histories - Omaha Public Schools". invisiblehistory.ops.org. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  65. ↑ James L. Conyers, Jr., ed. (2007). Engines of the Black power movement : essays on the influence of civil rights actions, arts, and Islam. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co. ISBN   978-0-7864-2540-2 – via Internet Archive.
  66. ↑ "The Life and Legacy of Vivian Strong". 27east.com. Southampton Press. 2019-02-23.
  67. ↑ Rubins, Dan (2018-11-20). "Vivian's Music, 1969". Theatre Is Easy. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  68. ↑ "The Blues of Knowing Why". The Union For Contemporary Art. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  69. ↑ "Christopher Maly | Nebraska Authors". nebraskaauthors.org. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.