Crown Heights Riot

The Crown Heights Riot was a three-day riot that occurred August 19–21, 1991 in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. At the time of the riot, Crown Heights was and remains predominantly an African-American and Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. It is the home of the Lubavitch sect of Orthodox Jewish Hasidim. The riots began on August 19, 1991, after the child of Guyanese immigrants was accidentally struck and killed by an automobile in the motorcade of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

The riot unleashed simmering tensions of the Crown Heights' black community against the Orthodox Jewish community. In its wake, several Jews were seriously injured; one Orthodox Jewish man, Yankel Rosenbaum, was killed; and a non-Jewish man, allegedly mistaken by rioters for a Jew, was killed by a group of African-American men. Lemrick Nelson was ultimately convicted in federal court for civil rights violations related to Rosenbaum's death and sentenced to 19 years in prison. A second defendant, Charles Price, was also charged with conspiring to violate Rosenbaum's civil rights and received 21 years in prison. Nelson and Price were the only two Crown Heights rioters tried for their actions.

The riots had an impact on the 1993 mayoral race, contributing to the defeat of Mayor David Dinkins, an African-American. Ultimately, the riots spawned a successful outreach program between black and Jewish leaders that helped calm and possibly improve race relations in Crown Heights. Many prominent members of the Jewish community still view the events of August 1991 as the "worst pogrom against Jews in United States history."