Jan. 17, 1912: 112 years ago, January 17 1912, police violently disrupted a street [...]
112 years ago, January 17 1912, police violently disrupted a street meeting by the Industrial Workers of the World (part of the IWW’s “free speech fights”) in San Francisco, leaving one speaker hospitalized. Police only made three arrests before being driven off by the crowd
IWW member Herbert Wright had been speaking on the corner of 3rd and Howard when police ordered him to stop. As police approach, Wright allegedly said, “Here come two of the bums now!” Police later claimed Wright had been “insulting San Francisco women,” a charge he denied
Wright and two of his comrades were beaten and arrested. When SFPD reinforcements arrived, street fighting broke out between the crowd, which numbered in the hundreds, and a handful of police armed with clubs. No further arrests were made, and SFPD retreated
This was just one in many such incidents that occurred during the IWW’s free speech fights in the Bay Area in the early 1910s. In March 1912, outrage over police violence in Oakland led to a recall election that nearly brought down the city government
