The aim of the article is to study the various aspects of Pyotr Vologodsky's relation to the Tomsk pogrom in October 1905 and the clarification of his roles in the scenarios of the unrest. Using microhistorical detailing and comparative methods, the lawyer's participation in the actions that preceded the bloodshed, the behavior at the time of conflict escalation and after it is reconstructed. The clerical materials, periodicals, memoirs, and other historical sources involved in the study can significantly supplement knowledge of one of the bloodiest episodes in the history of Tomsk and establish that the future Prime Minister of the anti-Bolshevik governments had a direct relation to it in different ways. He was a political and public figure who discredited state power, supported initiatives that had the effect of destabilizing the situation in the city. Thanks to personal and business ties, Vologodsky was among the most influential figures in the ranks of the Tomsk opposition, who nurtured the idea of eliminating the police and creating a new security system in the city. On the eve of the pogrom, the opposition formulated a demand for the resignation of the heads of the local state apparatus and revolutionized the situation. In anticipation of the riots, the politician became a victim of violence when he defended the rallying youth; during the looting of the property of the townspeople, his apartment miraculously escaped defeat. Being an authoritative lawyer, Vologodsky held a leading position in the regional legal community. The lawyer had long-standing acquaintances with judicial figures who played an important role in the liberation movement, who were responsible for investigating crimes after the pogrom. Vologodsky was a prominent publicist and had the ability to influence public opinion through the Tomsk press. In solidarity with other opponents of the autocracy, he declared the leaders of local administrations and police responsible for the pogrom through the newspaper Sibirskiy Vestnik. Confrontation with the authorities made him leave the city in February 1906. At the trial procedure of the Tomsk pogrom of 1909 the defendants were minor persons. The speech in this process as a defender of the interests of civil plaintiffs did not belong to the glorious pages of Vologodsky's lawyer career. There were few convicts, and most of them deserved pardon by the emperor. Explaining the bloodshed, Vologodsky denied the crucial importance of the rioters' hatred of the Jews and saw the underlying causes of the riots in breaking social relations caused by modernization processes.