At the time of the U.S. Civil War, on this day in 1863, a mixed-race man is arrested in Detroit for molesting a white girl. Thousands of white people gather downtown during the trial and begin assaulting and beating Black people, spreading into and looting the nearby Black neighborhood, and setting dozens of Black businesses on fire. More than 200 people are left homeless. Only two people are confirmed killed, but the true number is forever obscured.

In the aftermath, Detroit City Council refuses to approve compensation for riot victims and Detroit’s full-time police force is established, to be dominated by whites and even the KKK into the late 20th century.

Seven years later, the girl at the center of the original charges recants her accusations and the accused man is set free and pardoned.