My all-time favorite jaw dropper is the Wilmington, North Carolina riot of 1898. A group of Democrats, led by a Confederate veteran, actually threw the Republican mayor out of his office and took over the government. It was a genuine coup. Many blacks, fearing for their lives, left Wilmington for good.
The “Gangs of New York” does a good job of depicting these riots.
But talking to demonrats today...we’re not the same party...and I say #$@%^ that, you would do the same thing today, if we’d only give you the chance.