in Detroit began during the predawn hours of July 23, 1967, precipitated by a police raid of a speakeasy in a predominantly black neighborhood. As the day wore on and looting and fires got worse, Romney called in the Michigan State Police and the Michigan National Guard. At 3 a.m. on July 24, Romney and Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh called U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and requested that federal troops be sent. Clark indicated that to do so, Romney would have to declare a state of civil insurrection, which the governor was loath to do from fear that insurance companies would seize upon it as a reason to not cover losses owing to the riot. Elements of the 82nd and 101st U.S. Army Airborne Divisions were mobilized outside of the city. As the situation in Detroit worsened, Romney told Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance, "We gotta move, man, we gotta move." Near midnight on July 24, President Johnson authorized thousands of paratroopers to enter Detroit. Johnson went on national television to announce his actions and made seven references to Romney's inability to control the riot using state and local forces. Thousands of arrests took place and the rioting continued until July 27. The final toll was the largest of any American civil disturbance in fifty years: 43 dead, over a thousand injured, 2,500 stores looted, hundreds of homes burned, and some $50 million overall in property damage. There were strong political implications in the handling of the riot, as Romney was seen as a leading Republican contender to challenge Johnson's presidential re-election the following year; Romney believed the White House had intentionally slowed its response and he charged Johnson with having "played politics" in his actions. The riot notwithstanding, by the end of Romney's governorship the state had made strong gains in civil rights related to public employment, government contracting, and access to public accommodations. Lesser improvements were made in combating discrimination in private employment, housing, education, and law enforcement. Considerable state and federal efforts were made during this time to improve the situation of Michigan's migrant farm workers and Native Americans, without much progress for either. Of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, Romney said it was "a great national tragedy at a time when we need aggressive nonviolent leadership to peacefully achieve equal rights, equal opportunities and equal responsibilities for all. This