On the evening of
July 23, 1968 violence erupted between police and a black militant group led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans within Cleveland's 6 square mile Glenville neighborhood. When order was finally restored three days later on July 28 by the National Guard, 7 people lay dead , 15 were wounded.
While the Glenville neighborhood was left torn apart by rioters, looters and arsonists, Cleveland was left torn apart by the ensuing controversy. Carl B. Stokes, the mayor of Cleveland at the time, would later write in his autobiography, Promises of Power, "The aftermath of that night was to haunt and color every aspect of my administration for the next three years."