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20 May 1970, New York, New York, USA —- Under a sea of American flags, construction workers wearing “hard hats” march around City Hall in support of the Vietnam war effort. Tens of thousands of construction workers jammed Broadway for four blocks opposite City Hall and the overflow crammed into side streets to a depth of about two blocks. —- Image by Bettmann/CORBIS

Notice the sign in the crowd that read “Impeach the Red Mayor.” That would have been Democrat John Lindsay.

Hard Hat Riot - 1970/NYC

The Hard Hat Riot occurred on May 8, 1970 in Lower Manhattan. The riot started about noon when about 200 construction workers mobilized by the New York State AFL-CIO attacked about 1,000 high school and college students and others protesting the Kent State shootings, the American invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street. The riot, which spread to New York City Hall, lasted little more than two hours. More than 70 people were injured, including four policemen. Six people were arrested.

Background

On May 4, 1970, thirteen students were shot, four fatally, at Kent State University in Ohio during a protest of the Vietnam War and the incursion into Cambodia. As a show of sympathy for the dead students, then-Republican Mayor John Lindsay ordered all flags at City Hall to be flown at half-staff the same day.

The American labor movement was deeply divided over support for President Richard Nixon’s Vietnam policies. AFL-CIO President George Meany and most labor leaders in the United States were vehemently anti-communist and strongly supported American military involvement in Southeast Asia. But by 1970, union members were divided in their support for the war.

One of the strongest supporters of the president’s war policy was Peter J. Brennan. Brennan was president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, an alliance of building and construction unions in the New York City area. He was also president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of New York, the statewide umbrella group for construction unions. Additionally, he served as the vice president of the New York City Central Labor Council and the New York State AFL-CIO, umbrella groups for all labor unions in these respective areas. Brennan was a registered Democrat who had lobbied strongly for Democrats through the 50’s and 60’s, but increasingly supported Republican candidates as support for skilled labour unions decreased.[3] The building and construction unions were overwhelmingly blue-collar and male, and large majorities of these union members supported Nixon’s Vietnam policy.

Shortly after the Kent State shootings, anti-war protesters announced they would hold a rally near City Hall to memorialize the four dead students. Brennan decided to organize a counter-rally of construction workers to show support for the Nixon administration…