April 25, 1970: 54 years ago, April 25 1970, a "straight-looking" man attacked the [...]

54 years ago, April 25 1970, a “straight-looking” man attacked the People’s Office in Berkeley, a left-wing movement space that provided offices to People’s Park, Berkeley Tenants Union, and others. The attack left one People’s Office worker in the hospital with a gunshot wound

Around 10:30 PM, the man threw a firebomb through the front door of the office. The wick went out and the bomb shattered but did not explode. Berkeley Solidarity Committee member Owen Fitzsimmons chased him down the street, when the man opened fire, hitting Fitzsimmons in the leg

This was just one of a number of attacks on movement spaces in the 1960s and early ’70s. Reactionary vigilantes who shot up (and wrecked equipment at) San Diego’s left-wing Street Journal offices later admitted to having operated at the behest of the FBI and local police

Bay Area Left spaces that were attacked in this period include the Berkeley Tribe offices, the headquarters of the SF Du Bois Clubs and the Berkeley Vietnam Day Committee, the Midpeninsula Free University and Peace Center in Palo Alto, and many others https://t.co/fTdy8YVaSv