May 8, 2009

Hard Hat Riot













May 8th, 1970: Downtown New York City, where over 200 blue-collar construction workers attack students staging an anti-war rally and Kent State memorial, while police do nothing.

Earlier in the month, on May 4th, 1970, the Kent State shootings took place.  A memorial was held on Wall Street on May 8th, which became a politically charged protest of the Vietnam War.  The construction workers came towards the protest apparently from four different directions.  Damn.  A police line was soon breached and the protesters were then beaten severely (some with clubs and crowbars) by the construction workers.  THEN the construction workers, still filled with adrenaline and manly machismo from a jerky high, went to City Hall, Trinity Church and nearby Pace University, where they rioted and demanded flags be raised to full mast instead half mast (half mast was in honor of the Kent State shootings). They probably thought the shootings were justified and the necessary consequences of not beefing up, getting some rubber balls to hang from the back of your 4x4, and wearing American flag clothing.  Only 6 people were arrested. 

Now, don't get me wrong, some of my best friends work in the construction industry.  However, none of them look like this asshole.  

If you feel this post is maybe too biased towards a "left-wing" point of view, you'll probably love this site, made just for you: Come on!

1 comment:

  1. oh my god, that gopfun link hurts my brain a little bit.

    ReplyDelete