On September 28, 1919, the Omaha Race Riot erupted, one of many race riots that occurred in cities that year, reflecting common postwar economic stress and social tensions. In Omaha, Tom Dennison fanned tensions through sensational news accounts to build his own political power. The immediate cause of the riot was the arrest of 41-year-old Will Brown, an African-American Omaha civilian, on charges that he had raped a young white woman. The newspaper had contended a rash of attacks had occurred.