Freddy's Fashion Mart attack
Part of mass shootings in the United States
Location272 West 125th Street
Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Coordinates40°48′35″N 73°57′03″W / 40.80969°N 73.9508°W / 40.80969; -73.9508
DateDecember 8, 1995
TargetFreddy's Fashion Mart
Attack type
Mass shooting, hostage taking, arson, murder–suicide
Weapons
Deaths8 (including the perpetrator)
Injured4
PerpetratorRoland James Smith Jr.

On December 8, 1995, eight people, including the assailant, were killed when a gunman seized hostages at Freddy's Fashion Mart in Harlem, New York City and set the building on fire.[2][3]

Background

In 1995 a black Pentecostal Church, the United House of Prayer, which owned a retail property on 125th Street across from the Apollo Theatre, asked Fred Harari, a Jewish tenant who operated Freddie's Fashion Mart, to evict his longtime subtenant, a record store called The Record Shack owned by black South African Sikhulu Shange. African-American activist Al Sharpton led protests outside the Harlem store over several weeks against both the planned eviction of The Record Shack, and because Freddie's did not employ any Black workers.[1][4][5][6] Sharpton told the crowd of protesters: "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business."[7]

Attack

On December 8, 1995, Roland James Smith Jr., who may have attended previous protests outside the store, entered Harari's with a .38-caliber revolver and a container of flammable liquid. He ordered black customers to leave, then set the store on fire by sprinkling around the accelerant, positioning himself near the only exit. Smith shot at two police officers arriving at the scene, and shot four customers as they were escaping the fire. It was two hours before firefighters could enter the burned-out building to discover seven store employees had died of smoke inhalation, and the gunman had fatally shot himself.[8][9] Fire Department officials discovered that the store's sprinkler had been shut down, in violation of the local fire code.[10] The only fire escape had been bricked up (this was not a violation at the time, as long as a working sprinkler system was provided), so the only exit for those trapped meant passing the gunman. Three of the victims were found in a back room at street level, and four in the sealed basement.[1]

Aftermath

Sharpton subsequently said the perpetrator was an open critic of himself and his nonviolent tactics. In 2002, Sharpton expressed regret for making the racial remark "white interloper" but denied responsibility for inflaming or provoking the violence.[11][12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "OFFICIALS: FIRE EXIT WAS SEALED IN HARLEM BUILDING WHERE 8 DIED". Orlando Sentinel. The New York Times. December 14, 1995. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  2. ↑ Goldman, John J. (December 9, 1995). "8 Die as Gunman Sets Afire N.Y. Store Tied to Dispute". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ↑ Hester, Jere (December 13, 1995). "Rev. Al's Caught on Protest Tape Called Mart Owner a 'White Interloper'". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ Sexton, Joe (December 9, 1995). "Bad Luck and Horror for Seven in a Shop". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  5. ↑ Pyle, Richard (December 12, 1995). "New Yorker Reflect on a Massacre in Harlem". Albany Times Union/Associated Press. p. B2.
  6. ↑ Barry, Dan (December 9, 1995). "Death on 128th street: The dispute; Plans to Evict Record-Shop Owner Roiled Residents". The New York Times. p. 31. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  7. ↑ Lowry, Rich (December 3, 2003). "Sharpton's Victory". National Review. Archived from the original on April 16, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  8. ↑ Kifner, John (December 9, 1995). "Eight killed in Harlem arson, Gunman among dead". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  9. ↑ Sexton, John (December 18, 1995). "A Life of Resistance: A Special Report;Gunman's Ardent Credo: Black Self-Sufficiency". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2007. Smith was found with a card identifying himself as Aboudima Moulika and he had also used the name Abugunde Mulocko.
  10. ↑ Kocieniewski, David (December 15, 1995). "Inquiry Traces Sprinkler System Failure in Fatal Harlem Fire". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Alexandra Marks (December 3, 2003). "The Rev. Al Sharpton's latest crusade". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  12. ↑ Gitell, Seth (July 3, 2002). "Al Sharpton for president?". The Phoenix.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
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