An arrest in Chinatown watched by a street crowd

1897

An Edison company film showing a Chinese man being arrested and carried off through Chinatown as onlookers gather. The charge is not recorded; the Library of Congress notes it may relate either to the smuggling of immigrants barred by the exclusion quotas, or to the tong warfare that broke out after the killing of Fong Ching, known as Little Pete, in January 1897. The party climbs from the area around 830 Washington Street, an address then used to house new arrivals.