A look at the past,

thanks to Five Feet of Fury. Whilst browsing through, I found a link to just what led up to the Kent State shootings; not surprisingly(I remember some bits & pieces I heard at the time), mixed in with actual protesters were communists, arsonists, vandals and people committing assault with deadly weapons.

And, a few days later, an incident I'd never heard of:
"Construction workers at the World Trade Center building site got wind of the plan. When anti-war protester assembled at the George Washington statue on Wall Street that day -- complete with Viet Cong flags -- suits and hard hats joined forces against the hippies, in one of the weirdest 70s events you've never heard of: the Hard Hat Riot.

Here's a great, brief account of what happened that day:

By noon, more than 1,000 people had gathered and the vigil had escalated to a rally, and about 200 construction workers had had enough. They made signs reading things like “America, Love it or Leave it” and got right up against the police line that separated them from the students. They obeyed it for a few minutes, but the tension got to be too much and the construction workers started chasing the students through the street, beating some of them severely with fists, clubs and crowbars. The construction worker mob fought their way into City Hall and demanded that the flag be raised to full mast again - it had been lowered to half mast to honor the dead at Kent State. Fearful of further damage from the mob, the Deputy Mayor ordered the flag to be raised. The riot eventually fizzled out on its own. Six arrests were made and more than 70 people were injured."


Speaking of the past, back in the 80's I read an article about a bunch of 'save the whales' people, and one of them mentioned when he realized his lines weren't working. He told some construction guy "The flowers are your friends!" and the guy responded "Does that mean the weed is my enemy?" Doesn't apply to the above, but I thought I'd throw it in.