Historical Overview of Violence in Chinatown
“In the early evening of October 24, 1871, the city witnessed its most callous act of racial violence—the notorious Chinese Massacre. A race riot occurred after Robert Thompson, an Anglo in the company of a local police officer, was killed on Calle de los Negros after being caught in a crossfire between two feuding Chinese societies, or "tongs." An estimated crowd of 500 "people of all nationalities" took part in a brutal racial assault on the Chinese that spread through the Plaza area. When it was over, some 19 Chinese men and boys (sources disagree about the exact death toll) were murdered in the assault. After news of the massacre made national and international headlines, city leaders took further steps to implement effective law and order, which included renaming Calle de los Negros Los Angeles Street in 1877”