Shawyer dissertation May 2008 final version - The University of ...

Hilton to interview passing delegates, they chanted “Peace Now” and “Fuck you, LBJ”(Blum 308). A variety of flags waved: the NLF and black anarchist flags, and the peacesymbol. The demonstrators shouted “the streets belong to the people,” “this land is ourland,” and “Hell no, we won’t go” (Lukas, “Hundreds” 23). Then the police charged.The riot started around 7:30 that evening. The police were desperate to protect thedelegates’ hotel. So they tried to force the largely leaderless crowd back to the park withtheir nightsticks, indiscriminately beating anyone in their path. Those attacked includedmen and women alike, the Yippies and hippies, the Mobe and SDS marchers, clergymencalling for peace, and innocent bystanders trapped against the walls of the Hilton. Thetelevision crews and reporters were beaten. The Washington Post reported those caughtup in the violent attack consisted of “thousands of peace protesters, McCarthy kids,radicals and luckless, nonpolitical civilians” (“In the Streets” A1). The New York Timesdescribed the police and the National Guard using clubs, rifle butts, tear gas, and Macespray on “virtually anything moving along Michigan Ave” (Lukas, “Hundreds” 1). Noone was safe. Photographer Fred W. McDarrah of the Village Voice captured the arrest ofNew York Times photographer Barton Silverman, who was dragged away surrounded byfive burly policemen in protective gear (35). 69 The City of Chicago report sent to theWhite House admits that “some innocent bystanders may have been injured in thisparticular sweep” (32). The crush forced bodies through the glass windows of the hotel,and bystanders in the lobby were routed out. As screams and furious chants of “the whole69 Silverman and McDarrah’s films were not confiscated. Photographs and eyewitness accounts are theprimary sources of evidence for what happened that night (Kusch 140).179