The Hardhat Riot. May 8, 1970, NYC. I just learned about this event today, although

[niyad]

I am sure many of our labour organizers are quite familiar with it. I was reading Andy Borowitz' book, "Profiles In Ignorance: How American Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber", and he mentioned it in relation to the murdering, orange TRAITOR**.

Briefly, NYC mayor John Lindsay had ordered the flags to half staff after the killings at Kent State on May 4. Anti-war protestors were confronted by hundreds of construction workers, soon joined by office workers. The protestors were chased, harassed and beaten, while the police did little or nothing. over 100 people were injured, including seven police. About one in four of the injured were women.

One of the reasons I mention this is that, in reading Andy's comments, and a fairly recent book by David Paul Kuhn, "The Hardhat Riot: Nixon, New York City, and the Rise of the White Working Class Revolution", a nearly direct line is drawn from the riot, and its meaning and aftermath, to the TRAITOR**. Disturbing reading.

[musette_sf]

1. I remember this quite well.

The hard hats were working at the WTC construction site, which is why they had numbers and force in Lower Manhattan. Will read the Kuhn book.

[niyad]

2. Please let me know what you think of it.

[NBachers]

3. This was well covered in the Village Voice at the time.

[niyad]

4. Glad to know. I was a bit preoccupied at the time, sending my husband to

Vietnam.

[FakeNoose]

5. I was in college then, we had our own anti-war protests going on

It was hard to focus on happenings outside of our own campus. Vietnam changed all of our lives, in one way or another.

[electric_blue68]

6. I remember it happening but not where in Manhattan. So the WTC....

was being built. I'm sure I must have had glimpses of it being once it reached a certain height since I ended up in a college on the west border (I guess) of the East Village. You could see it at certain intersections.

I was in my last 7 weeks of HS.
So, an intense time. And, yes, I was protesting the Vietnam War, too. But not that day. It was pretty shocking.