Oakland Riots
The Oakland Riots, occurring from October 16-20, 1967, were a series of protests in Oakland, California, aimed at shutting down the local military induction center in opposition to the Vietnam War and the draft. Organized by the Stop the Draft movement, participants aimed to disrupt the draft process and draw attention to their antiwar stance. While three of the five days were largely peaceful, significant violence erupted on October 17 and October 20, leading to confrontations with law enforcement. Protesters engaged in various forms of civil disobedience, including blocking access to the center and creating chaos in the surrounding area, which resulted in injuries and arrests. The police response involved a heavy presence, leading to accusations that they instigated some of the violence. Ultimately, while the protests did not succeed in closing the induction center, they highlighted the tensions between antiwar activists and authorities during a tumultuous period in American history. The events also led to notable legal cases, including the trial of the "Oakland Seven," who were acquitted of charges related to the protests.
Oakland Riots
Date: Dates October 17 and October 20, 1967
Violence erupted on two days of a five-day protest against the Vietnam War and the military draft at the induction center in Oakland, California. Dubbed riots, the incidents resulted in numerous injuries and arrests but no deaths and limited property damage.
Origins and History
The Stop the Draft movement, a group of people opposed to the military draft and the Vietnam War, targeted Oakland, California, as the focal point for five days of protest because it was the site of a large military induction center.
The Riots
From October 16-20, 1967, dubbed “Stop the Draft Week,” people from all over Northern California converged on the Oakland Induction Center to physically shut it down. The leaders of the Stop the Draft movement had the stated goal of rejecting nonviolent action and wanted to “muck up” the whole draft process.
The plan was to completely close the Oakland Induction Center at Fifteenth and Clay to prevent any inductees and, more important, any armed services members from entering the building. A massive call went out for protesters to gather by 6:00 a.m at the induction center on Monday, October 16, and every day during the week. The protesters were prepared for a violent response from the police. They smeared their faces with petroleum jelly to take the sting out of any Mace, an irritating chemical, that might be sprayed at them and carried gas masks and garbage can lids that they could use as shields. They used bullhorns and shouted at the police “We order you to disperse we are the people of California” and the ubiquitous “Hell no, we won’t go,” used to voice young men’s objection to being drafted and sent to Vietnam. They displayed signs bearing antidraft slogans and hammer-and-sickle flags and carried cans of spray paint. However, the movement’s ranks had been infiltrated by undercover police officers, and on the first day of the protest, the protesters were met by twenty-seven county and city police departments from nine Bay Area counties and the California Highway Patrol.
Three of the five planned days of protest were peaceful, including October 16, when Joan Baez sang, but violence erupted on Tuesday, October 17, dubbed “Terrible Tuesday,” and Friday, October 20. On these two days, termed riots by the media, the protesters overturned parked vehicles, deflated tires, ripped wires from cars, strew tacks and garbage across the streets, sat in front of the induction center, and spray painted and shouted antiwar slogans. On October 20, an estimated ten thousand demonstrators were involved in the protests, with men outnumbering women four to one. One thousand officers were present and three hundred police officers were on call. Twenty-three people were injured and ten jailed.
Impact
Nearby businesspeople complained of physical damage to their stores and lost business because the protesters, in blocking entrance to the induction center, also prevented customers from entering their stores. Police arrested 277 people during the five days of protest. Minor clashes with police occurred daily, and many people viewed the police as the instigators of the violence. Most of the protesters’ injuries were the result of being clubbed, kicked, or teargassed.
An informal survey of experienced reporters found that the majority of the crowd came merely to watch not to protest. The protesters were unable to close the induction center but produced delays as buses of inductees had to be rerouted.
Subsequent Events
The “Oakland Seven” Michael Smith, Steven Hamilton, Robert Mandel, Reese Erlich, Frank Bardacke, Jeff Segal, and Terence Cannon were arrested and tried on numerous criminal charges including trespassing, obstructing public sidewalks, interfering with officers, creating a general public nuisance, and conspiracy. The police and prosecutors alleged that the dowels used for the picket signs were in fact weapons. The Oakland Seven, represented by defense lawyer Charles Gar, were acquitted of all charges in 1969.
Additional Information
For more information about the protests and the trial of the Oakland Seven, see Todd Gitlin’s The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage (1987).