NJ State Tooper Looks Back on Newark Riots

New York, NY —

Forty years ago this week the City of Newark errupted into a violent civil disturbance that left 26 people dead and much of the City in ruins. Several of the deaths occurred when random shots were fired by police and national guardsmen in residential areas. Back in 1967 Paul McLemore was the only black member of the NJ state police and he was an eyewitness to the five days that forever changed Newark.

WNYC's Bob Hennelly sat down with McLemore who is now a municipal court judge in Trenton. . He recalled the first night his unit was deployed.