Editing Little Augies (section)

==War with the Rough Riders==
In 1923 the Little Augies challenged Kaplan's Rough Riders for contracts involving violence in garment and laundry disputes. Albert Fried describes the two organizations as the principal Lower East Side gangs contesting power during this phase.<ref name="Fried">Albert Fried, [https://archive.org/details/fried-albert-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-jewish-gangster-in-america ''The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America''] (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980; revised edition 1993), chapters on labor slugging.</ref>

During a wet-wash laundry dispute, Orgen's group allied with a separately led gang under Solomon Schapiro.<ref name="Asbury" /> Coalition in one dispute does not establish that Schapiro was Orgen's subordinate or that their gangs permanently merged.

Kaplan was shot dead outside Essex Market Court on August 28, 1923 while under police guard. Louis Cohen or Kerzner, associated with Orgen's side, was arrested at the scene and later indicted.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1923/08/29/archives/gang-leader-slain-at-court-house-door-as-police-guard-him-gunman.html “Gang Leader Slain at Court House Door as Police Guard Him”], ''The New York Times'', August 29, 1923.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1923/08/31/archives/-dropper-is-buried-his-slayer-indicted-heavy-guard-of-police-keeps-.html “‘Dropper’ Is Buried; His Slayer Indicted”], ''The New York Times'', August 31, 1923.</ref>

The evidence establishes Cohen's prosecution and the factional context. Later claims that Orgen, Buchalter, Shapiro or Diamond ordered Kaplan's killing should be attributed rather than treated as adjudicated fact without a qualifying court record.