Stonewall Timeline
Colfax between Emerson & Ogden, by the Ogden Theater

Created By: Dex
Sponsored By: The Corner Beet

Before the Riots

  • 1967 - Stonewall Inn is established
  • 1969 - Mayor John Lindsay runs for re-election. The “clean-up” of New York City and increased police raids are part of his re-election campaign.

The First Riot - June 28, 1969 at 1:20am

  • Police enter the Stonewall Inn and announce that they are conducting a raid.
  • Patrol vehicles are late in arriving. Meanwhile, a crowd of 100-150 people gather in front of the Stonewall Inn.
  • As the first vehicles arrive, the crowd grows restless and increasingly hostile towards officers. A police officer reportedly shoves a patron, who then strikes him with her purse.
  • A woman in handcuffs is escorted out the front door. She fights with police and is hit on the head by an officer with a police baton. Bystanders recall that the woman looked at the crowd and shouted, “Why don’t you guys do something?”
  • After she is moved into a police wagon, the crowd went “berserk”. Some reports indicate that Stormė DeLarverie is this woman, though no one has been able to definitively identify her.
  • The crowd grows to 500-600 people. Many throw bottles, garbage cans, bricks, and other debris while shouting insults.
  • Ten police officers barricade themselves inside the Stonewall Inn, along with a small number of detained bar patrons.
  • Some members of the crowd begin to light fires and throw burning debris at the police in the Stonewall Inn.
  • Additional police officers arrive. They walk down Christopher Street and begin to disperse crowds
  • People within the police wagons begin to escape.
  • The crowd begins to move around the blocks, outpacing police. This continues for hours.

After the First Riot

  • Stonewall Inn reopens on Saturday night
  • Others join in the ongoing protests, including Black Panthers and anti-war protestors
  • Police show up in larger numbers on the second night, using more violent tactics and tear gas canisters
  • “There was more anger and more fight the second night” - Danny Garvin
  • June 28, 1970 - Christopher Street Liberation Day commemorates the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. This is considered the first LGBTQ pride parade in the U.S.