A soldier stands guard against looters as firefighters try to put out blazes from riots that broke out in Northwest D.C. in the days after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. This April 8, 1968, photo depicts a common scene of the day: buildings in ruins, shattered glass and empty streets. Although riots, looting and fires occurred across the country, in D.C. they were mainly centered in the Shaw and U Street neighborhoods, as well as along H Street Northeast and in parts of Southwest.