Recollections of Chicago--1968
Jan K. Peterson at The Libertarian Enterprise - one man's memory of the first police attack of the Democrat Convention of 1968. He believes that his white motorcycle helmet, which he was carrying because he was going to ride home after the protest, is what saved him from being attacked by the pigs. [tle]
If you have ever seen the movie, "Little Big Man," you know that there is a scene where Dustin Hoffman (as Little Big Man) is in an Indian encampment with "Grandfather" (who is blind), when the cavalry attacks. Grandfather decides that it's a good day to die, but Hoffman wants to get him out, so he teals Grandfather: "Remember the dream you had? Where you were invisible? That's a sign! You are invisible; the soldiers can't see you." Grandfather accepts this, and saunters out of the teepee. He walks nonchalantly through the killing fields all around him, as the cavalry is firing indiscriminately at everyone--women, children, old men, everyone--and escapes without a scratch.
I had a similar experience in Chicago. I stood in the middle of the intersection and watched the carnage going on all around me, without ever being involved in any of it. I watched police officers wielding batons rake them across the backs of peoples' legs as they were attempting to flee, causing them to fall to the ground, where they were further assaulted with batons until the officers got tired. I saw someone pushed through a plate glass window on the facade of the hotel, and sharp shards of broken glass came falling down on him. I watched innocent people with blood flowing from gashes on their heads, being shoved--with great force--into all-steel paddy-wagons. People were pleading for restraint, but the troops screamed back at them while they continued to flail away with their clubs. I was aghast!
