For his part, Governor Charles L. Terry (a southern-style Democrat) publicly warned of minority violence and conspiracies and placed fifteen hundred National Guardsmen on standby alert at Wilmington's airport.
He also proposed and signed legislation granting him sole authority to impose martial law and ban the sale of alcohol and established a riot commission.
A report of sniper fire prompted Democratic mayor Babiarz to declare a state of emergency, to impose a curfew, and to request assistance from Governor Terry.
He later ordered National Guard troops to be deployed also in Rehoboth Beach and at the campus of the predominantly black Delaware State College in Dover.
Within a week, Mayor Babiarz requested withdrawal of the soldiers, but Governor Terry refused, citing unspecified intelligence reports of the potential of renewed and more violent racial disturbances.
Delaware State Troopers were with each group sent into the City to ensure that there was a law enforcement representative who could assist the soldiers make informed decisions concerning the use of force.
In November 1968 – six months after the riots – the National Guard was still patrolling Wilmington over the objections of city leaders, who accused the governor of playing to white fears in an election year.
City Supervisor O. Francis Biondi told the New York Times, "the National Guard here has become a symbol of white suppression of the black community.
It was left to Governor Peterson, and within an hour of his inauguration in January 1969 he signed the order finally ending the military occupation of Wilmington.
[6] The riot intensified suburban fears of the city and set the stage for the deep animosities that developed during the 1970s over interdistrict school desegregation and the relocation of the region's primary health care facility.