Md. students’ Mayday civil disobedience guide: 1971
The University of Maryland College Park Mayday contingent produced a guide to the Mayday 1971 anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that were intended to shut down the government by using civil disobedience to block traffic in Washington, D.C.
For a PDF of the entire 14-page manual that is unsigned, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/1971-mayday-m...
The target of the District of Columbia-Maryland contingents was the 14th Street Bridge. Several hundred people assembled near the Washington Monument grounds and attempted to march to the bridge at around 5:30 a.m.
A massive police presence quickly drove the group back using mace and batons. The large group of Mayday protesters quickly broke up into the component affinity groups and began blocking traffic using hit-and-run tactics in the area from the approaches to the 14th Street Bridge and Southwest Freeway to the area around 14th Street and Constitution Ave. NW.
The protests at this target were over by 9:00 a.m.
City-wide demonstrators attempted to block traffic at 10 sites (reduced from the original 21) for about 5 hours on Monday, May 3, 1971 using non-violent civil disobedience.
Early attempts at human blockades at key intersections were broken up by overwhelming force. A total of over 18,000 police and troops were called upon to combat the protests.
President Nixon feared the international consequences of the nation’s capital being paralyzed by antiwar protestors and his administration worked closely with local police, revoking permits and suspending normal arrest procedures.
Frustrated by the slow progress in clearing demonstrators, police suspended civil liberties sometime around 5:30 a.m. and locked up anyone who vaguely resembled a protestor.
Demonstrators and bystanders were taken to makeshift detention facilities at a practice field for the NFL Washington football team, a recreation yard at the D.C. jail and the old Uline Arena. On the unusually cold day, those arrested were housed for hours without running water, bathroom facilities, adequate shelter or food.
The protests around the city were largely over by about 9:30 a.m., except in the Georgetown-Key Bridge area where police used massive amounts of tear gas in an attempt to clear the demonstrators who sometimes fought back with rocks, bottles and other debris.
On May 4th and 5th, police employed mass arrests outside the Justice Department and at the U.S. Capitol.
In all, more than 12,000 people were arrested in the largest mass arrest for a single event in U.S. history. The total surpassed the previous record of over 7,000 arrested during the disturbances in Washington, D.C. after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Charges were later dropped against nearly everyone involved and thousands later received compensation from the government for their arrest.
U.S. troops continued to be withdrawn from Southeast Asia and nearly all the U.S. combat forces were removed following the Paris Peace Treaty in 1973. Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of [North] Vietnam and the National Liberation Front defeated the Republic of [South] Vietnam in 1975 leading to unification of the country.
In the end, the Mayday protests disrupted but did not stop U.S. government operations. However, the protest and countless other actions against the Indochina Wars helped to change Americans views toward U.S. military intervention against national liberation movements. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before the U.S. would embark on new misadventures.
For a PDF of the entire 14-page manual, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/1971-mayday-m...
For more information and related images, see
Mayday, May 1 flic.kr/s/aHsk5GV1JM
Mayday, May 2 flic.kr/s/aHsk5CKtKq
Mayday: May 3 flic.kr/s/aHsk5bjYqk
Mayday: May 4 flic.kr/s/aHsk64GugT
Mayday: May 5 flic.kr/s/aHsk8e3sU3
Donated by Robert “Bob” Simpson
Md. students’ Mayday civil disobedience guide: 1971
The University of Maryland College Park Mayday contingent produced a guide to the Mayday 1971 anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that were intended to shut down the government by using civil disobedience to block traffic in Washington, D.C.
For a PDF of the entire 14-page manual that is unsigned, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/1971-mayday-m...
The target of the District of Columbia-Maryland contingents was the 14th Street Bridge. Several hundred people assembled near the Washington Monument grounds and attempted to march to the bridge at around 5:30 a.m.
A massive police presence quickly drove the group back using mace and batons. The large group of Mayday protesters quickly broke up into the component affinity groups and began blocking traffic using hit-and-run tactics in the area from the approaches to the 14th Street Bridge and Southwest Freeway to the area around 14th Street and Constitution Ave. NW.
The protests at this target were over by 9:00 a.m.
City-wide demonstrators attempted to block traffic at 10 sites (reduced from the original 21) for about 5 hours on Monday, May 3, 1971 using non-violent civil disobedience.
Early attempts at human blockades at key intersections were broken up by overwhelming force. A total of over 18,000 police and troops were called upon to combat the protests.
President Nixon feared the international consequences of the nation’s capital being paralyzed by antiwar protestors and his administration worked closely with local police, revoking permits and suspending normal arrest procedures.
Frustrated by the slow progress in clearing demonstrators, police suspended civil liberties sometime around 5:30 a.m. and locked up anyone who vaguely resembled a protestor.
Demonstrators and bystanders were taken to makeshift detention facilities at a practice field for the NFL Washington football team, a recreation yard at the D.C. jail and the old Uline Arena. On the unusually cold day, those arrested were housed for hours without running water, bathroom facilities, adequate shelter or food.
The protests around the city were largely over by about 9:30 a.m., except in the Georgetown-Key Bridge area where police used massive amounts of tear gas in an attempt to clear the demonstrators who sometimes fought back with rocks, bottles and other debris.
On May 4th and 5th, police employed mass arrests outside the Justice Department and at the U.S. Capitol.
In all, more than 12,000 people were arrested in the largest mass arrest for a single event in U.S. history. The total surpassed the previous record of over 7,000 arrested during the disturbances in Washington, D.C. after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Charges were later dropped against nearly everyone involved and thousands later received compensation from the government for their arrest.
U.S. troops continued to be withdrawn from Southeast Asia and nearly all the U.S. combat forces were removed following the Paris Peace Treaty in 1973. Armed forces of the Democratic Republic of [North] Vietnam and the National Liberation Front defeated the Republic of [South] Vietnam in 1975 leading to unification of the country.
In the end, the Mayday protests disrupted but did not stop U.S. government operations. However, the protest and countless other actions against the Indochina Wars helped to change Americans views toward U.S. military intervention against national liberation movements. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before the U.S. would embark on new misadventures.
For a PDF of the entire 14-page manual, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/1971-mayday-m...
For more information and related images, see
Mayday, May 1 flic.kr/s/aHsk5GV1JM
Mayday, May 2 flic.kr/s/aHsk5CKtKq
Mayday: May 3 flic.kr/s/aHsk5bjYqk
Mayday: May 4 flic.kr/s/aHsk64GugT
Mayday: May 5 flic.kr/s/aHsk8e3sU3
Donated by Robert “Bob” Simpson