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1971 May Day protests against the Vietnam War

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114: 102: 126: 137: 149: 445:. The prisoners massed against the fence, pushed it over, and were tear-gassed. No food, water, or sanitary facilities were made available by authorities, but sympathetic local residents brought supplies. Skirmishes between protesters and police occurred up until about midday. In Georgetown, the police herded the protesters and onlookers through the streets to the 457:
over the gate each time they pushed the crowd back. Other forms of gas were used, including pepper based and one that induced vomiting. Police helicopters also dropped tear gas on the university's lower athletic field, where protesters had camped the night before. Numerous people were injured and
437:. They detained anyone who looked like a demonstrator. By 8 am. thousands of people had been arrested, including many who had not been breaking any law. The city's prisons did not have the capacity to handle that many people; thus several emergency detention centers were set up, including the 506:
pursued a class action suit on behalf of thousands of detained protesters and ultimately the federal courts, recognizing the illegal nature of the arrests, ordered the government to pay a settlement to those arrested, making them some of the only citizens in US history to receive financial
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director at the time, said, "It was obviously viewed by everybody in the administration, particularly with all the arrests and the howling about civil rights and human rights and all the rest of it...as a very damaging kind of event. I don't think there was any doubt about that."
327:, dressed in riot gear, raided the encampment. The police gave the campers until noon to clear out. Some protesters abandoned the demonstration and left the city. The remaining protesters, estimated at 12,000, regrouped at various churches and college campuses in the area. 281:
and others among the more militant members of the anti-war movement. It was decided that small groups of protesters would block major intersections and bridges in the capital under the slogan, "If the government won't stop the war, we'll stop the government."
386:, they would stop the government and told troops, many of whom were of similar age, that their goal was to prevent the troops from being sent to Vietnam. While the troops were in place and thousands held in reserve, the police clashed with members of the 375:, and federal agents that were already in place. Every monument, park, and traffic circle in the nation's capital had troops protecting its perimeters. Paratroopers and Marines deployed via helicopter to the grounds of the 1212: 998: 368: 324: 250: 223: 118: 39: 1396: 1125: 402:, refused to give Federal workers the day off, forcing them to navigate through police lines and May Day tribe roadblocks. The presidential response was managed by White House Counsel 544: 1513: 433:
While the troops secured the major intersections and bridges, the police abandoned their usual arrest procedures, roaming through the city making sweep arrests and using
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leaders had come to believe that tactics of mass marches that had been used during the past six years would not end the war and that more aggressive actions were needed.
467: 1528: 1518: 813: 502:. The charges were eventually dismissed. Out of the 12,000 demonstrators arrested, most were released without charges. Only 79 were ultimately convicted. The 1508: 1171: 648: 1366: 539: 262: 700: 1503: 781: 343:. Over the weekend, while protesters listened to music, planned their actions, or slept, 10,000 federal troops were moved to various locations in the 1006: 1114: 989: 794: 1538: 1254: 958: 937: 918: 850: 823: 737: 617: 601: 574: 1238: 1185: 390:. The protesters engaged in hit-and-run tactics throughout the city, trying to disrupt traffic and cause chaos in the streets. President 230:. The protests began on Monday morning, May 3 and ended on May 5. In all, more than 12,000 people were arrested, in what was the largest 757: 487: 141: 1426: 1391: 1155: 1082: 1061: 415: 367:. Troops from the Marine Barracks lined both sides of the 14th St bridge. These troops were to back up the 5,100 officers of the D.C. 591: 1498: 1411: 1431: 1033: 490:
filed conspiracy charges against May Day leader Rennie Davis, as well as against two other activists who had been members of the
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would come to view the events as damaging because the government's response was perceived as violating citizens' civil rights.
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had deployed machine gun nests. On Wednesday, May 5, 1,200 more people were arrested at a legal rally on the steps of the
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treated by volunteers on campus. By afternoon the police had suppressed the protest and held more than 7,000 prisoners.
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Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America's Biggest Mass Arrest
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Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America's Biggest Mass Arrest
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campus. The police then engaged in a back-and-forth with the protesters outside the university's main gate on
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and another one surrounded by an 8-foot-high (2.4 m) fence was set up next to
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Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s
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joined them. A group known as the "May Day Tribe" was formed: it was made up of
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On Tuesday, May 4, another 2,000 people were arrested at a sit-in outside the
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that troop transports were landing at the rate of one every three minutes at
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Bernstein, Carl (May 3, 1971). "Political Victory Seen by Protesters".
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Battle Green Vietnam: The 1971 March on Concord, Lexington, and Boston
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Protesters announced that because the government had not stopped the
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1971 Year in Review Archived United Press International 2009-05-05
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Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism
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Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism
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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
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Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War
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National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
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List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
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protesting the United States' continuing involvement
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Mass civil disobedience protests in Washington, D.C.
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Oxford University Press. p. 288. 335:The U.S. government had put into effect 263:People's Coalition for Peace and Justice 1115:Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence 896:, various news articles, May 1–7, 1971. 555: 1255:Greenwich Village townhouse explosion 593:Blind Ambition: The White House Years 7: 1529:May 1971 events in the United States 1519:Political riots in the United States 1239:Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam 1186:Columbia University protests of 1968 932:. University of Pennsylvania Press. 724: 722: 720: 699:Network, The Learning (3 May 2012). 1509:Protest marches in Washington, D.C. 797:. September 3, 2009. Archived from 488:United States Department of Justice 1392:Movement for a Democratic Military 1062:1965 March against the Vietnam War 907:L.A. Kauffman (21 February 2017). 839:L.A. Kauffman (21 February 2017). 507:compensation for violation of the 414:held a rally the following day in 25: 1412:Students for a Democratic Society 947:Lawrence Roberts (28 July 2020). 307:and plan for the coming action. 1504:Protests against the Vietnam War 1432:Vietnam Veterans Against the War 1034:Draft evasion in the Vietnam War 147: 135: 124: 112: 100: 1427:United States Servicemen's Fund 651:from the original on 2009-05-03 1229:Weather High School Jailbreaks 1191:Court-martial of Susan Schnall 504:American Civil Liberties Union 325:Washington Metropolitan Police 1: 1473:Vietnam stab-in-the-back myth 953:. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 359:, about 15 miles east of the 214:were a series of large-scale 1539:20th-century political riots 1301:Winter Soldier Investigation 1121:Court-martial of Howard Levy 624:. 1971-05-10. Archived from 590:Dean, John W. (2016-12-20). 345:Washington metropolitan area 249:By the middle of 1970, many 1458:Counterculture of the 1960s 1357:Concerned Officers Movement 1178:The whole world is watching 527:Central Intelligence Agency 412:Federal Employees for Peace 365:U.S. 82nd Airborne Division 1560: 1402:Pacific Counseling Service 1145:The Ultimate Confrontation 1083:political self-immolations 728:Graff, Garrett M. (2022). 563:Roberts, Lawrence (2020). 1057:Edmonton aircraft bombing 406:, who was present at the 171: 71: 37: 1499:1971 in Washington, D.C. 730:Watergate: A New History 400:San Clemente, California 186:1,500 National Guardsmen 119:D.C. Metropolitan Police 1024:1960s Berkeley protests 899:Barber, Lucy G. (2002) 812:Goluboff, Risa (2016). 420:President's Dining Room 371:, 2,000 members of the 1544:1970s political events 1275:Student strike of 1970 928:Lemire, Elise (2021). 901:Marching on Washington 353:Andrews Air Force Base 131:82nd Airborne Division 1312:Clay v. United States 1306:1971 May Day protests 1285:Sterling Hall bombing 1131:March on the Pentagon 509:constitutional rights 447:Georgetown University 337:Operation Garden Plot 182:12,000 federal troops 33:1971 May Day protests 18:May Day protests 1971 1377:GI's Against Fascism 1265:Kent State shootings 705:The Learning Network 628:on February 3, 2008. 317:Nixon administration 271:War Resisters League 239:Nixon administration 1437:Weather Underground 1407:Stop Our Ship (SOS) 1079:Roger Allen LaPorte 1029:Central Park be-ins 893:The Washington Post 686:The Washington Post 671:The Washington Post 596:. Open Road Media. 439:Washington Coliseum 396:Western White House 377:Washington Monument 373:D.C. National Guard 369:Metropolitan Police 142:U.S. National Guard 1352:Chicano Moratorium 1260:Free The Army tour 1039:Draft-card burning 873:A Memory of Howard 472:United States Army 216:civil disobedience 184:5,100 local police 1481: 1480: 1463:Anti-war movement 1382:G.I. coffeehouses 1333: 1332: 960:978-1-328-76672-4 939:978-0-8122-9795-9 920:978-1-78478-410-2 852:978-1-78478-410-2 825:978-0-19-026226-6 738:978-1-9821-3916-2 618:"Order of Battle" 603:978-1-5040-4100-3 576:978-1-328-76672-4 462:Next several days 394:, who was at the 297:West Potomac Park 251:anti-war movement 234:in U.S. history. 208: 207: 191: 190: 162: 161: 155:U.S. Marine Corps 16:(Redirected from 1551: 1524:May Day protests 1468:Protests of 1968 1362:Donald W. Duncan 1071:Donald W. Duncan 1014: 992: 985: 978: 969: 964: 943: 924: 881:L. A. 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Index

May Day protests 1971
Opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam
Washington, D.C.
May Day tribe
Yippies
U.S. Park Police
D.C. Metropolitan Police
82nd Airborne Division
U.S. National Guard
U.S. Marine Corps
civil disobedience
Washington, D.C.
protesting the United States' continuing involvement
Vietnam War
mass arrest
Nixon administration
anti-war movement
Rennie Davis
David Dellinger
People's Coalition for Peace and Justice
Jerry Coffin
War Resisters League
Michael Lerner
Yippies
West Potomac Park
Potomac River
rock music
Nixon administration
U.S. Park Police
Washington Metropolitan Police

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