On this day in 1935, a Black Puerto Rican teen is caught stealing a 10¢ pen knife at the S.H. Kress Five-and-Dime in Harlem. Attempting to escape, the boy bites the store detective’s hand. The police and an ambulance are called and the boy is let go, but a gathering crowd begins spreading rumors that he had been beaten to death.

By nightfall, the surrounding blocks are engulfed in a riot targeting white businesses. It takes the police until early morning to find the boy, take a photo with him, and distribute copies, but not before three Black people are killed, 125 people injured, and 125 arrested.

The mayor commissions a report that identifies discrimination, segregation, and aggressive policing as conditions that led to the riot. He shelves it.