DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Student protests, May-December 1971 | 1971-06-06 Daily Iowan Article: ""Anti-War Violence Strikes City"" Page 3

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Student protests, May-December 1971

1971-06-06 Daily Iowan Article: ""Anti-War Violence Strikes City"" Page 3

olence Strikes City 

dochina War march
ter this photograph 
Iowa City. Damage
ly, the federal Post

to by George Popkin

Scattered Arrests Follow Three Hours of Trashing

A handful of people were arrested Wednesday night after a crowd of antiwar demonstrators estimated at a average 400 and 500 people ranged through Iowa City for four hours breaking windows and blocking traffic. 
About 100 law enforcement officers, including Johnson County Sheriff's Deputies, the Iowa Highway Patrol and Iowa City and Coralville Police Departments, dressed in riot gear, charged down Clinton Street and into the Pentacrest to break up the crowd shortly before midnight. 
No names of those arrested had been released by Iowa City Police at Daily Iowan press tie. 
( It was learned later that among the persons detained was Thomas Walsh, A3, a local reporter covering the event and editor-select of the Daily Iowan. Walsh, who was standing with a group of reporters and camerapersons on the corner of Washington and Clinton Streets, was hustled on a bus along with a bystander. It was not known at press time whether any charges were filed against him.)
Several people were reported treated and released at University Hospitals for minor injuries sustained during the demonstrations. 
Police attacked the few people they caught on their charge across the Pentacrest with night sticks, but no serious injuries were apparent. 
BLOCK TRAFFIC
The melee erupted after a wreath laying and march to the National Guard Armory turned into a traffic-blocking sit-in at the intersection of Clinton and Burlington streets. 
The crowd, which numbered as many as 1,000 at its peak, including spectators, turned hostile when a pickup truck labeled "Barney's DX" careened through the demonstrators after the crowd had moved to the intersection of Dubuque and Iowa streets at 9 p.m.
Demonstrators then converged on Barney's DX, at the corner of Linn and College, and broke a large plate glass window and several smaller windows in the garage door. Student monitors, placed themselves between the crowd and the station in an attempt to prevent further damage, and the crowd began moving down Linn Street to the Army, Navy and Air Force Recruiting Center. 
A large plate-glass door was broken at the recruiting center before monitors again placed themselves between the crowd and the building. The crowd then marched back through town and hit Iowa Book and Supply, where at least five more large plate-glass windows were broken.
After blocking Clinton Street in front of Iowa Book and Supply, the crowd next moved to the Iowa City Post Office, where most of the windows on the front of the building were broken by thrown rocks. 
HIT THE FIELD HOUSE
Leaving the Post Office, the crowd moved to Burlington Street, then down Burlington and across the river to the Field House, where all of the windows on the south side of the building were broken out. 
After leaving the Field House, the crowd made its way back to the Pentacrest, blocking the intersection of Burlington Street and Riverside Drive for a time and at one point surrounding a car that refused to stop for them. 
The crowd also stopped for a few minutes at the corner of Burlington and Capitol streets when a man identified by some members of the crowd as a Johnson County Deputy Sheriff tried to detain one of the demonstrators, asking him to "wait and talk things over." The unidentified demonstrator refused to wait and the two were immediately surrounded by 
the crowd, and the demonstrator slipped loose.
The crowd then walked to the Pentacrest, where it stopped for discussion. Reports that three busloads of riot-equpped police were on their way proved to be true. When the police, led by Highway Patrol Capt. Lyle Dickinson, arrived, they formed, issued a brief warning, and then charged, effectively scattering the crowd.
PENTACREST RALLY
The demonstrstion grew out of a rally on the Pentacrest, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in which a crowd was drawn by advance publicity  saying that a dog would be napalmed on Old Capitol steps as a demonstration of what such weapons do to people in Southeast Asia.
(See story, this page.)
The crowd then began the march to the Johnson County Courthouse and the Armory, with sporadic shouts of "Peace Now," "One, Two, Three, Four, we don't want your f*cking war."
A clenched fist salute followed the reading of the commemorative wreath at both the Courthouse and the Armory. The inscription read, "In memory of those murdered at Kent State May 4, 1970 and Jackson State May 6, 1970, and for thousands of Americans and Vietnamese killed in Amerika's Imperialist War of Aggression in Vietnam."
An American flag was raised upside down at half mast in front of the National Guard Armory as the crowd, seated on the grass, cheered, clapped and chanted, "Power to the people" and "End the war." An impromptu skit by the guerrilla theater was put on the chanting. 
ROUTE RETRACED
The crowd, estimated at 350, dispersed en masse, retracing the parade route to the intersection of Burlington and Clinton, where a majority of the demonstrators sat down stopping all traffic. 
At about 8:45 the crowd and curious onlookers moved north into the downtown business district. 
At that point the Barney's DX truck ran through the crowd, and the four-hour rampage began. 
Earlier, in the day, university students held a Memorial Convocation for students slain last year at Kent State and Jackson State, and as an expression of compassion for the dead in Indochina and those arrested in Washington D.C., in the past few days.
The convocation included speeches by members of Veterans Against the War (VAW), Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and an open microphone for anyone wishing to express his or her views about the war.

DI  6/6/71
p. 3 (of 3(

No Dog Burning
Reports that a dog would be napalmed at a rally on the Pentacrest were revealed to be a publicity stunt when about 500 people gathered there at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Many onlookers protrested when a man appeared with a dog, and several people refused to leave the steps of Old Captiol until the dog was led away.
Rally sponsors said they never intended to go through with the napalming, billed as an action to draw attention to the burning of villagers in Indochina.

SDS Calls Meeting
The University of Iowa Students for a Democratic Society Wednesday called for a mass strategy meeting tonight to oppose the university's involvement in the Indochina War.
According to SDS spokespersons, specific targets of the strategy meeting will be the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps, and university employes' war research.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 in the Grant Wood Room of the Union.

Saving...

olence Strikes City dochina War march ter this photograph Iowa City. Damage ly, the federal Post to by George Popkin Scattered Arrests Follow Three Hours of Trashing A handful of people were arrested Wednesday night after a crowd of antiwar demonstrators estimated at a average 400 and 500 people ranged through Iowa City for four hours breaking windows and blocking traffic. About 100 law enforcement officers, including Johnson County Sheriff's Deputies, the Iowa Highway Patrol and Iowa City and Coralville Police Departments, dressed in riot gear, charged down Clinton Street and into the Pentacrest to break up the crowd shortly before midnight. No names of those arrested had been released by Iowa City Police at Daily Iowan press tie. ( It was learned later that among the persons detained was Thomas Walsh, A3, a local reporter covering the event and editor-select of the Daily Iowan. Walsh, who was standing with a group of reporters and camerapersons on the corner of Washington and Clinton Streets, was hustled on a bus along with a bystander. It was not known at press time whether any charges were filed against him.) Several people were reported treated and released at University Hospitals for minor injuries sustained during the demonstrations. Police attacked the few people they caught on their charge across the Pentacrest with night sticks, but no serious injuries were apparent. BLOCK TRAFFIC The melee erupted after a wreath laying and march to the National Guard Armory turned into a traffic-blocking sit-in at the intersection of Clinton and Burlington streets. The crowd, which numbered as many as 1,000 at its peak, including spectators, turned hostile when a pickup truck labeled "Barney's DX" careened through the demonstrators after the crowd had moved to the intersection of Dubuque and Iowa streets at 9 p.m. Demonstrators then converged on Barney's DX, at the corner of Linn and College, and broke a large plate glass window and several smaller windows in the garage door. Student monitors, placed themselves between the crowd and the station in an attempt to prevent further damage, and the crowd began moving down Linn Street to the Army, Navy and Air Force Recruiting Center. A large plate-glass door was broken at the recruiting center before monitors again placed themselves between the crowd and the building. The crowd then marched back through town and hit Iowa Book and Supply, where at least five more large plate-glass windows were broken. After blocking Clinton Street in front of Iowa Book and Supply, the crowd next moved to the Iowa City Post Office, where most of the windows on the front of the building were broken by thrown rocks. HIT THE FIELD HOUSE Leaving the Post Office, the crowd moved to Burlington Street, then down Burlington and across the river to the Field House, where all of the windows on the south side of the building were broken out. After leaving the Field House, the crowd made its way back to the Pentacrest, blocking the intersection of Burlington Street and Riverside Drive for a time and at one point surrounding a car that refused to stop for them. The crowd also stopped for a few minutes at the corner of Burlington and Capitol streets when a man identified by some members of the crowd as a Johnson County Deputy Sheriff tried to detain one of the demonstrators, asking him to "wait and talk things over." The unidentified demonstrator refused to wait and the two were immediately surrounded by the crowd, and the demonstrator slipped loose. The crowd then walked to the Pentacrest, where it stopped for discussion. Reports that three busloads of riot-equpped police were on their way proved to be true. When the police, led by Highway Patrol Capt. Lyle Dickinson, arrived, they formed, issued a brief warning, and then charged, effectively scattering the crowd. PENTACREST RALLY The demonstrstion grew out of a rally on the Pentacrest, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in which a crowd was drawn by advance publicity saying that a dog would be napalmed on Old Capitol steps as a demonstration of what such weapons do to people in Southeast Asia. (See story, this page.) The crowd then began the march to the Johnson County Courthouse and the Armory, with sporadic shouts of "Peace Now," "One, Two, Three, Four, we don't want your f*cking war." A clenched fist salute followed the reading of the commemorative wreath at both the Courthouse and the Armory. The inscription read, "In memory of those murdered at Kent State May 4, 1970 and Jackson State May 6, 1970, and for thousands of Americans and Vietnamese killed in Amerika's Imperialist War of Aggression in Vietnam." An American flag was raised upside down at half mast in front of the National Guard Armory as the crowd, seated on the grass, cheered, clapped and chanted, "Power to the people" and "End the war." An impromptu skit by the guerrilla theater was put on the chanting. ROUTE RETRACED The crowd, estimated at 350, dispersed en masse, retracing the parade route to the intersection of Burlington and Clinton, where a majority of the demonstrators sat down stopping all traffic. At about 8:45 the crowd and curious onlookers moved north into the downtown business district. At that point the Barney's DX truck ran through the crowd, and the four-hour rampage began. Earlier, in the day, university students held a Memorial Convocation for students slain last year at Kent State and Jackson State, and as an expression of compassion for the dead in Indochina and those arrested in Washington D.C., in the past few days. The convocation included speeches by members of Veterans Against the War (VAW), Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and an open microphone for anyone wishing to express his or her views about the war. DI 6/6/71 p. 3 (of 3( No Dog Burning Reports that a dog would be napalmed at a rally on the Pentacrest were revealed to be a publicity stunt when about 500 people gathered there at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday. Many onlookers protrested when a man appeared with a dog, and several people refused to leave the steps of Old Captiol until the dog was led away. Rally sponsors said they never intended to go through with the napalming, billed as an action to draw attention to the burning of villagers in Indochina. SDS Calls Meeting The University of Iowa Students for a Democratic Society Wednesday called for a mass strategy meeting tonight to oppose the university's involvement in the Indochina War. According to SDS spokespersons, specific targets of the strategy meeting will be the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps, and university employes' war research. The meeting will be held at 7:30 in the Grant Wood Room of the Union.