November 10, Thursday, Late Morning

St. Stephen A.M.E. Church, University Multimedia Center

The St. Stephen A.M.E. church, the largest black congregation in Wilmington, represented an organizational threat to whites. Early in the melee, the Wilmington Light Infantry machine gun squads tarteted all of the black churches on rumors that the churches were used as arsenals. At St. Stephens, a WLI crew aimed their rapit-fire machine gun at the church. Faced with no choice, the ministers opened the church. No guns were found. (WRRR 147-148).