Police presence at the resort is increased 40 percent, provoking worried comments from black community leaders who say the actions are provocative. After 60,000 people show up for Greekfest in Philadelphia, Police Chief Charles R. Wall recommends to City Manager Aubrey V. Watts Jr. that the Virginia National Guard's military police be put on standby. They encounter a mob of 30 white men, and Hawkins is shot to death. The incident puts race relations into the national spotlight. Traffic backs up onto Route 44.
Sidewalks become impassable, and the crowd spills into the streets.
Following reports of an increasingly hostile crowd, state police presence increases to 291 officers. In the absence of police on Atlantic Avenue, looting erupts. Police re-emerge at about 25th Street, and declare an unlawful assembly. They march forward in step, thrusting batons and ordering everyone off the streets with loudspeakers. Some rioters shout expletives about the police or militant chants.