For this reason, he refused to act. All day,
burning and looting continued and grew. Shooting became increasingly
widespread, and the number of deaths began to soar rapidly. Finally,
before midnight on Monday, President Johnson sent in federal troops on
his own initiative.
When the federal troops arrived, they found the city full of fear. The
Army believed that its first task was one of maintaining its own order
and discipline. Second, it strove to establish a rapport between the
troops and the citizens as a basis on which to build an atmosphere of
calm, trust, and order. The soldiers provided coffee and sandwiches to
the beleaguered residents, and an atmosphere of trust gradually
developed.
It became clear that the mutual fear between the police and the
citizens had only intensified the catastrophe. Lessons which had been
learned two years earlier in Watts by the police and the Guard had not
been applied in Detroit. Law enforcement officials again overreacted
and used high-powered military weapons in a crowded civilian
situation. This overreaction presented as much danger to innocent,
law-abiding citizens as did the violence of the rioters.
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