Hard Hat Riot
The Hard Hat Riot occurred on May 8, 1970, in New York City. It started around noon when around 400 construction workers and around 800 office workers attacked around 1,000 demonstrators affiliated with the student strike of 1970. The students were protesting the May 4 Kent State shootings and the Vietnam War, following the April 30 announcement by President Richard Nixon of the U.S. invasion of neutral Cambodia. Some construction workers carried U.S. flags and chanted "USA, All the way", and "America, love it or leave it". Anti-war protesters shouted, “Peace now”.
| Hard Hat Riot | |
|---|---|
| Part of the student strike of 1970 | |
Hard hats on cabinet table after Nixon meeting with and supporting construction trades group less than three weeks after the New York City Hard Hat Riot | |
| Location | New York City Hall, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Date | May 8, 1970 11:55 a.m. (Eastern Time Zone) |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 100+ |
| Perpetrators | NYC union trade/construction workers |
The riot, first breaking out near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street in Lower Manhattan, led to a mob scene with more than 20,000 people in the streets, eventually leading to a siege of New York City Hall, an attack on the conservative Pace University, and lasted more than three hours. Around 100 people, including seven policemen, were injured on what became known as "Bloody Friday". Six people were arrested, but only one of them was a construction worker associated with the rioters. President Nixon then invited the hardhat leaders to Washington, D.C., and accepted a hardhat from them.