40 years ago today: all h-e-l-l broke loose on Michigan Avenue

Parent Cafe
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<p>Another anniversary - admittedly, less monumental than the MLK speech - is that today is the day when, in connection with the Democratic hijinks in Chicago, things finally boiled over after several days of rising temperatures on all sides. For those of us who were there (a teenager at the time, not yet even able to drive, I was among the hundreds who, that night on Michigan Avenue, near the Hilton Hotel, were clubbed, Maced, thrown into paddy wagons, and charged with disorderly conduct), it was - and remains - an indelible experience. </p>

<p>[Chicago</a> 1968 Democratic National Convention: Chronology](<a href=“Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos”>Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos)</p>

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<p>Well, do tell more!</p>

<p>My cousin’s husband was in a National Guard unit that was on the scene. I remember him telling of baggies of human waste being thrown at them.</p>

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<p>A juvenile record!</p>

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<p>Both sides got what they came for. A good time was had by all in the long run.</p>

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<p>Did you engage in any behavior that would have provoked an adverse reaction by the police?</p>

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<p>Uh, not a single baggie of human waste was ever hurled from this human’s hand.</p>

<p>And actually, Marite, as for a juvenile record, I realized after writing this that I had misspoken slightly. While I was arrested for disorderly conduct, I wasn’t actually charged with it. After processing me at the police station, the cops decided, I think, that it would be more hassle than it was worth to prosecute a 15-year-old for this in juvenile court, so they just called my father and released me to him. It was a very quiet ride home.</p>

<p>And, Razorsharp, the answer to that is no, assuming that I understand your question correctly. At some point that night, an order was given to the police to begin making a sweep down Michigan Avenue. When that happened, I was at the back of a crowd. The police started marching, then running, moving twice as fast as the people who were in front of me. At that point, the only way that I could have avoided being clubbed and arrested would have been if I’d trampled the folks in front of me. (As you may recall, this was subsequently characterized in the Walker Report as a “police riot.”)</p>

<p>(P.S. One of many ways in which that night, and that week, has continued to echo in my life is in the career I pursued: it’s entirely possible, I think, that I never would have become a criminal defense lawyer if I hadn’t felt the sting of those billy clubs on my shoulders and back that night.)</p>

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<p>D*mn defense lawyers! ;)</p>

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<p>Round about 40 years ago our basement was full of demonstrators for whom my parents had put up bail. I went to a few demonstrations in high school, but thankfully they were all very peaceful.</p>

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<p>epistrophy - you continue to amaze !</p>