Reading Wikipedia when this came up:
"During the 1860s and 1870s, there were occasional anti-Chinese demonstrations in the poorer districts of San Francisco. Riots, sometimes resulting in fatalities, took place. During one incident, Norton allegedly positioned himself between the rioters and their Chinese targets; with a bowed head, he started reciting the Lord's Prayer repeatedly until the rioters dispersed without incident."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton#Norton.27s_Imperial_acts
Follow up question: do we have any notion of what the government and people of San Fransisco thought of Abraham Norton?
I'm under the impression that he was thought of as something of a lovable kook