In 1938 Washington’s black community rallied against police violence;

After an hour-long standoff during which Keys shouted that he was being attacked by the Germans, officers Robert M. Henry and John W. Nally shot through the window.

The day after Keys’s death, a six-man coroner’s jury convened to consider whether the officers’ actions were warranted. Among the questions a jury member asked: Why hadn’t police used tear gas to drive Keys from his home?

Henry and Nally replied that they were concerned it might affect other tenants in the building. Henry…