Siedlce had a significant Jewish population (estimated at 10,000 to 64% out of 24,000 total (so about 15,000)). In the larger context of the widespread unrest it was the site of socialist and Polish patriotic agitation and demonstrations (organized by Polish Socialist Party and Jewish Bund), and the government desired to make a vivid response to the Bloody Wednesday, a series of attacks on government officials organized by PPS that took place barely a months earlier, and other similar events. On August 26 an OB PPS activist, disguised as a Jew, assassinated a Russian police captain in Siedlce. As many Jews took part in the protests, the Russian government saw the Siedlce as a ripe territory to show its force.