Derry had been in a state of suppressed ebullition all summer. There had been fierce rioting on 19 April. It arose after police banned a planned civil rights march from Burntollet to Derry, following the use of the familiar Paisleyite ploy of threatening to stage a counterdemonstration. While chasing a group of stone-throwing youths, police burst into a house they mistakenly thought the youths were sheltering in, and batoned the occupants.
