Ballots And Bullets

In the final episode of Ballots and Bullets we examine the political aftermath of the race violence in Cleveland fifty years ago, and how it connects to the horrific shooting of police officers in Dallas in the summer of 2016. This raises the question we asked at the start of this series: Why are there still such high tensions between African American citizens and police? We walk through this minefield with you, hopefully to reach some understanding both as to how our damaged past explains where we are today, but more importantly, why some of the thinking fifty years ago about American racism may hold to the key to a brighter future.

"This is just the beginning." Those were the words Fred Ahmed Evans told a black Cleveland police officer in the back of a squad car on the night of July 23, 1968. Evans referred to what he believed would be a multi-city rebellion, kicked off by the uprising he had just started. The problem was Evans and his group started the revolution a day early. In other cities, nationalists believed the war would start on July 24 and the fact that Evans and his band had been put down decisively caused others to pause. In this episode we will follow Fred “Ahmed” Evans to the city jail and explore his confession and its meaning. We will also dig into long suppressed FBI files and notes to look at the police investigation and discuss the two trials in 1969 that resulted in guilty verdicts and Evans receiving the death penalty.

It is July 23, 1968. Fred Ahmed Evans and his Black Nationalist group have been purchasing rifle, shotguns and ammunition with money from Mayor Carl Stokes’s “Cleveland: NOW!” antipoverty program. This episode explores the events leading up to the first shots and the chaos that ensued. We’ve got exclusive interviews with Cleveland Police Officers who were part of the gun battle, and hear about questions that still remain unanswered more than 50 years later.

As 1968 gets underway Mayor Carl Stokes has the support of the white business community in Cleveland. Tensions are running high between black nationalists and white policemen following the 1966 Hough Rebellion. The fuse is lit. The "Cleveland: Now" movement starts raising millions of dollars to rebuild the city. Hubert Humphrey campaigns for president alongside Carl Stokes; highlighting the program as shining example for America. Then tragedy intervenes. Fred Ahmed Evans takes $10,000 intended for inner city youth programs and purchases scores of guns and ammunition to attack the police.

Martin Luther King Jr. focuses on Cleveland in order to help elect Carl Stokes as mayor. Fred Ahmed Evans comes back from the Korean War and falls in line with the black nationalist movement. Tension builds between police and nationalists in the Glenville neighborhood.

WKYC has created a companion podcast for our investigative report on the bloodiest night in Cleveland’s history. An urban guerrilla assault by black militants the night of July 23rd 1968 shocked police. In the span of 2 hours, 3 officers were killed, 15 more shot and wounded. At least 3 militants died that night, with an untold number injured. The full story of what happened that night has never been told because all sides involved had reasons to bury it. Over the next several weeks WKYC will roll out a 6 part podcast to provide even more depth into what led to the ambush and why 50 years later many of the same issues confront our nation today: Racial tension. Police oppression. Gun control. In Episode 1, available now, hear how Martin Luther King’s visits to Cleveland nearly every other week in 1967 played a role, and why Malcolm X’s most famous speech lit the fuse when it was delivered here for the very first time .