Algiers Motel

This was the location of the Algiers Motel and its Manor House annex at the time of the 1967 Detroit Uprising. After midnight on July 26, a national guardsman heard what he believed to be gunshots coming from behind the motel. He called it in, and police stormed the motel. The following morning, Black teenagers Carl Cooper, Fred Temple, and Auburey Pollard were found dead in the Manor House. Departing from protocol, the involved officers did not file a police report until five days later. On July 31 the Detroit Free Press reported that contrary to police claims of a firefight the teens were killed at close range. Motel guests stated that they heard gunshots after police took Pollard and later Temple into a room. No witnesses provided information for Cooper’s death. The witnesses also said they were berated and beaten by the officers. After the deaths of Black teenagers Carl Cooper, Fred Temple, and Auburey Pollard at the Algiers Motel on July 26, 1967, David Senak, Ronald August, and Robert Paille, all white officers, were charged with murder. An additional federal case charged them and Black security guard Melvin Dismukes with conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the motel guests. On August 30, 1967, Black Power leaders and civil rights activists, including Rosa Parks acting as a juror, held a “People’s Tribunal” at the Central United Church of Christ. It convicted the officers and Dismukes of the murders. Increased publicity after the 1968 release of John Hersey’s book, The Algier’s Motel Incident, led to the murder trial of August being moved to Mason and the conspiracy trial to Flint. Senak, August, Paille, and Dismukes were acquitted of all charges by all-white juries.