Evening star., 1932-09-13
CLASSFORD'S STATEMENT
Chief of Police Challenges Assertions Made by
Attorney General Mitchell Regarding Friction
Of Bonus Army.
Of Bonus Army.

ing upon the President for the use Of
troops
within half an hour after the con-
ference at the District Building, Com
missioners Reichelderfer and Crosby ap-
peared at the disaffected area. I left
group of veterans, which included
Comdr. w. w. Waters and other vet
eran leaders, to tell the Commissioners
that all was quiet and that plans were
being formulated to get all the veterans
visiting In this area to return to their
own camps Nothing was said by the
Commissioners at this time to indi-
cate they had reached a decision to
call for Federal aid
1T was not until more than an hour
the troops had been called out. The in
formation came to me first from a
newspaper reporter, and was confirmed
officially a few minutes later by a
message from Attorney General Mitchell
transmitted verbally by Mr. Nugent
Dodds Of his Office. I was in COM
mand at the scene Of q difhcult situa-
ton which was vitality affected by the
call for Federal troops. I have never
been informed why the Commissioners
did not notify me instantly when the
troops were called.
a. The report says: Finally the
mob Of bonus marchers again attacked
the police with bricks. Jumps Of con-
crete and iron bars. Two Of the bonus
Marchers were shot by police who had
been set upon and were In danger Of
their lives. The entire mob became
hostile and riotous. 1t was apparent
that pitched battle ON a large scale
might start at any moment. Practically
the entire police force Of the city we're
called from their posts and assembled
at this point The facts are as fol-
lows: This second attack occurred
about LAS pm, more than an hour
and half after the brick battle It
was short, spontaneous affair involv.
ing seven police officers who were
isolated from the main body Of police
holding the repossessed area. which was
in the same block, but on the other
side of three large buildings.
1T is true that there was a certain
amount Of hostility, but q very large
of the unemployed veterans
remained loyal to law and order. With
out this mass of loyal men it would
stopped the brick battle before it had
been In progress five minutes, nor to
have stopped the second outbreak in
which two veterans were shot, almost
as soon as 1t had commenced.
$50 Policemen In Area.
There was no trouble Of any kind
between pm. and the time the troops
arrived, which was after S.
THE Metropolitan Police force num-
bers more than 1900 officers There
were at no time more than $50 in the
area.
IS. The report says: The results
OF this effort to bring to justice the
principals who melted this riot have
been unsatisfactory. The reason is
that on the day of the riot July 2s)
no detective officers were at Camp
Marks fAnacostia Flats, where orig
mated the large movement of march
over and attack on the police The
function of having detectives and
crime-prevention agents in a position
to observe and obtain evidence against
those who at the last moment melted
the riotous march and attack, be-
longed to the District police. The in
spector In charge Of that branch of
the police service reports that he had
no orders to place men for that pur-
pose and. on the contrary. on the day
Of the disturbance was directed to keep
his men out Of the area The facts
are as follows: Camp Marks was
within the eleventh precinct. Officers
from this precinct circulated in the
camp continuously. In addition to the
police officers from the eleventh pre-
Crime Prevention Division q. Auffen-
berg and J. X. Baker, were detailed
to this camp on the morning Of July
~. They remaintd at Camp Marks
from early morning until the veterans
suddenly started their movement to the
Pennsylvania avenue area about ii
am. No orders were issued to the
inspector in charge of the Crime Pre-
vention Division, nor to any other in
spector, which prohibited plain clothes
officers from pursuing their normal
functions Of obtaining and reporting
information. In order to avoid un-
necessary provocation or confusion,
orders were issued requiring that the
eviction of veterans and the quelling
Of any disturbance which might re-
suit. should be accomplished by uni
formed policemen only.
ut Is not necessary to defend in
this statement the policies followed un-
swervingly by the Police Department
in preserving law and order for pc
riod of two months-policies Of hu-
manity and OF respect for the rights OF
citizens under the laws and the Con-
suitution Hundreds of commentators
have been received from people and
organizations all over the country and
from people Of all walks Of life.
THE influx Of thousands OF unem-
ployed veterans could not have been
prevented No other agency being will
ing to accept responsibility, the police
Of Washington in conformity to the
traditions of unseifish devotion to hu-
man distress. with the cooperation OF
thousands of sympathetic citizens, did
everything possible and within reason
to obtain for these destitute and home
less people, food, shelter and other
essentials.
.'It is matter of qualification to the
Police Department that as long as it
remained unhampered in the appli-
cation of the policies adopted, no dis
orders of any consequence occurred ex-
cept by the radicals of small group,
whose efforts were easily thwarted by
police action and police strategy"
Statistics Of the Police Department in
connection with the amount of crime
during the two months the bonus
marchers we're in Washington:
Number of offenses known to the
police, including murder. manslaughter,
rape. robbery, aggravated assault, burg
larry, larceny and auto thefts, as follows:
May, 1881. LIS May, 1892. 1905
June, 1881. :. 1,24l June, 1882. 1860
July. 1881. 1,147 July. 1882: 1,073
August, 1881. 1,247 August. 1882. LISP
The months during which the bonus
marchers were In this city are IN black
face