Forty-five people were arrested over the four hours it took to disperse the riot, including 14 teenagers in nearby West Palm Beach who were in possession of bomb-making materials.
"[4] Like the rest of the country, Riviera Beach, Florida had started desegregating in the mid-1950s following Brown v. Board of Education and the building civil rights movement.
The day before the riot, Governor Claude R. Kirk Jr. appointed Republican William Heidtman as Sheriff of Palm Beach County.
On the day of the riot, Riveria Beach dedicated two segregated recreational facilities in the area; Black residents, however, were still not allowed to visit nearby Singer Island.
[5][1] After a fight broke out at the Blue Heron Bar near the Port of Palm Beach on July 30, 1967, police arrested James Mitchell, a 27-year old Black man.
Fourteen teenagers were arrested in nearby West Palm Beach on charges of arson and possessing materials to create firebombs.
[8][5] Police dispersed a crowd gathering at Rosemary Avenue and Fourth Street in West Palm Beach on the evening of July 31.
[5][8] In the years following the riot, a federal jobs program was brought into the city and the first Black member of the School District of Palm Beach County was elected in 1970.