Baltimore Sun: The unprotected Capitol was an inside job
Almost 50 years ago, in May 1971, Vietnam War protest leaders called for “May Day” protests in Washington, D.C. If the federal government would not stop the war, then the nation’s capital would be brought to a standstill — by non-violently clogging its major intersections with thousands of sitting protesters. That seemed like a grand idea to some college buddies and me. We didn’t think twice about driving to the district to join in.
It didn’t seem like a good idea, however, to the federal government under President Richard Nixon. At least 10,000 military troops (including 4,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division) and an almost like number of federal agents and police from the District and surrounding jurisdictions were waiting for us and the estimated 40,000 other protesters that initially amassed.
I saw no unruly acts by protesters, but on the first big day of protests — Monday, May 3 — tear gas was widely deployed and security forces drove motorcycles at those of us sitting in the streets, forcing many of us to jump to our feet. Many were chased and detained while just walking on the District’s sidewalks.
We then were quickly herded into smaller groups to board dozens of yellow school buses waiting nearby, to be driven to and corralled in the Washington Coliseum and a large, fenced football field next to RFK Stadium. In all, more than 12,600 people were arrested that day and over the next two days — distressingly swiftly and efficiently, albeit illegally in most cases. I and many others were charged with disorderly conduct, charges that largely were dismissed.
My point is this: When it comes to dealing with even just potentially unruly protesters in the District — let alone insurrectionists, such as we saw Jan. 6 at the Capitol — federal authorities have firmly had a playbook for a half-century or more. (Their actions in 1971 were outlined in a federal plan, dubbed “Operation Garden Plot,” developed in the 1960s to combat potential civil disorders.)
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