14 Dead In ADF Raid On Mosque (PJW)

August 6, 1959
CHICAGO: Earlier this morning there was a raid on a mosque in downtown Chicago: over 50 are wounded and 14 dead, including Elijiah Muhammad, the leader of a growing negro-Islamic movement known as the Nation of Islam.

Attorney General James D. Johnson, citing unrest in major cities following the June riot in Birmingham, had transferred willing Civil Protection Units from across the nation and stationed them in major cities. The CPU currently in question, already notorious for their allegedly brutal role in Birmingham, was transferred from Alabama and stationed nearby the mosque when they received word that one of the FBI's most wanted, Elijiah Muhammad, was spotted at the Nation of Islam's Temple No. 2. Elijiah's following was growing each day, attracting members with promises of revenge against "their white oppressors". Either overzealous, or perhaps acting on orders to arrive quickly before Elijiah could leave, the CPU arrived at the Temple before local law enforcement and FBI agents, and surrounded it.

While agents blocked the exits, the CPU, led by veteran Robert Edward Chambliss, attempted to force their way into the temple when an apparently errant explosion went off. Opponents are quick to blame the CPU for the explosion, while supporters claim the Nation of Islam had landmined the doors when the CPU was spotted; nevertheless, an immediate gunfight began as the CPU poured into the temple.

Among the dead were three Civil Protection Unit members, and the prophet Elijiah, who was wounded in the explosion and then bled out following a subsequent gunshot to the thigh. Chambliss was heavily wounded and is in intensive care, while the remaining CPU agents have returned to the barracks and are currently under questioning.

Rioting has already begun in negro neighborhoods of the city.