View source for Days of Rage

{{Short description|1969 student activist demonstrations in Chicago, Illinois}}
{{Other uses|Day of Rage (disambiguation){{!}} Day of Rage}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title            = Days of Rage
| partof           = the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam]] and political violence in the United States during the Cold War
| image            = 
| caption          = 
| date             = October 8–11, 1969
| place            = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]
| coordinates      = 
| causes           = 
| goals            = Create mass action to end American involvement in the Vietnam War
| methods          = 
| status           = 
| result           = City damages and arrests of Weathermen
| side1            =
* [[Students for a Democratic Society]]
* [[Revolutionary Youth Movement]]
* [[Weather Underground]]
| side2            = Law enforcement
* Chicago Police Department
* Illinois National Guard
| side3            = 
| leadfigures1     = {{plainlist|
* [[Bernardine Dohrn]]
* [[David Gilbert (activist)|David Gilbert]]
*[[Jeff Jones (activist)|Jeff Jones]]
*[[Tom Hayden]]}}
| leadfigures2     = 
| leadfigures3     = 
| howmany1         = 800
| howmany2         = 2,000
| howmany3         = 
| casualties1      = 
| casualties2      = 
| casualties3      = 
| fatalities       =
| injuries         = 34+
| arrests          = 250+
| detentions       =
| charged          =
| fined            =
| casualties_label = 
| notes            = 
| sidebox          = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Opposition to the Vietnam War}}
[[File:Days of Rage event poster.gif|thumb|Poster advertising the event]]

The '''Days of Rage''' were a series of protests during three days in October 1969 in Chicago, organized by the emerging [[Weather Underground Organization|Weatherman]] faction of [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS). 

The group planned the October 8–11 event as a "National Action" built around [[John Jacobs (student leader)|John Jacobs']] slogan "bring the war home",<ref name="KSale">Sale, Kirkpatrick, ''SDS'', Vintage Books, 1974, {{ISBN|0-394-71965-4}} {{page?|date=October 2024}}</ref> which grew out of a resolution drafted by Jacobs and introduced at the October 1968 SDS National Council meeting in [[Boulder, Colorado]]. The resolution read, "The Elections Don't Mean Shit—Vote Where the Power Is—Our Power Is In The Street". It was adopted by the council, prompted by the effects of the [[1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity]] in August and reflecting Jacobs's advocacy of [[direct action]] as political strategy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilkerson |first=C. |author-link=Cathy Wilkerson |title=Flying Close to the Sun: My Life and Times as a Weatherman |publisher=[[Seven Stories Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58322-771-8}}{{page?|date=October 2024}}</ref>

==Sociopolitical background==
In 1969, tensions ran high among the factions of SDS. The Weathermen were still part of the organization but differences were coming to the surface. "Look at it: America 1969" put forth SDS's bottom line regarding the National Action. By the end of August, the differences between the Weathermen and [[Revolutionary Youth Movement|Revolutionary Youth Movement II (RYM II)]] had emerged, leading to the resignation of RYM&nbsp;II leader and member of SDS [[Mike Klonsky]] from the Weatherman-controlled national office leadership.<ref>Harold Jacobs. ''Weatherman'' (1970), p. 84</ref><ref>Ron Jacobs. ''The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground'' (1997), p. 21. {{ISBN?}}</ref> He accused the Weathermen of going back on the convention's mandate. Weathermen members Mark Rudd and Terry Robbins responded, saying that priority must be given to building an anti-imperialist youth movement.<ref>Harold Jacobs. ''Weatherman'' (1970), p. 84.</ref>

In the months before the Days of Rage, despite the tensions within SDS, many members of Weather/SDS worked non-stop in promoting the demonstration. [[Lyndon Comstock]] was sent, along with three other members, to Lansing, Michigan to organize and promote the event. Leaflets were printed and distributed to high school and community college students during the day, while at night members would spray paint anti-war graffiti on local school campuses.<ref>[[Dan Berger (American academic)|Berger, Dan]]. ''Outlaws of America: Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity''. Paperback ed. Oakland, Calif.: [[AK Press]] 2006. {{ISBN|1-904859-41-0}} {{page?|date=October 2024}}</ref>

On October 6, 1969, [[Monuments relating to the Haymarket affair|the statue]] commemorating the policemen killed in the 1886 [[Haymarket affair]] in [[Chicago]] was blown up by a group including [[Bill Ayers|William Ayers]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caputo |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Caputo |title=13 seconds: a look back at the Kent State shootings |date=2005 |publisher=Chamberlain Bros |isbn=978-1-59609-080-4 |location=New York}} {{page?|date=October 2024}}</ref> The blast broke nearly 100 windows and scattered pieces of the statue onto the [[Kennedy Expressway]] below;<ref>[[Paul Avrich]], ''The Haymarket Tragedy'', 1984, p. 431; [[Bill Ayers]], ''Fugitive Days: A Memoir,'' 2001; Shepard, "Antiwar Movements, Then and Now", ''Monthly Review'', February 2002; "Statue Honoring Police Is Blown Up in Chicago", ''New York Times'', October 8, 1969; "Haymarket Statue Bombed", ''Chicago Tribune,'' October 7, 1969.</ref> no one was ever arrested for the bombing.<ref>Adelman, William J. (1986) [1976]. ''Haymarket Revisited'' (2nd ed.). Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society. pp. 38–39. {{ISBN|0-916884-03-1}}</ref> Weatherman found itself isolated from SDS, but maintained hopes that thousands would attend the mass demonstration in Chicago.<ref>Harold Jacobs. ''Weatherman'' (1970), p. 85.</ref>

==Events of the Days of Rage==
===October 8===
Despite efforts to recruit youth and promote involvement, participation in the "Days of Rage" demonstrations was not as broadly based as advertised, or as participants had hoped. About 800 Weatherman members showed up prior to October 8 and faced 2,000 police officers. No more than 300 were left willing to face the enormous gathering of police a second time around<ref>Harold Jacobs. ''Weatherman'' (1970), p. 86.</ref> on the evening of Wednesday, October 8, 1969, in [[Lincoln Park|Chicago's Lincoln Park]], and perhaps half of them were members of Weatherman collectives from around the country.<ref name="KSale" /> The crowd milled about for several hours, cold and uncertain. [[Tom Hayden]] gave a short speech, telling the protesters not to believe press reports that the [[Chicago Seven|Chicago 7]] disagreed with their action.<ref name="v80">Varon 80</ref> [[Abbie Hoffman]] and [[John Froines]], other members of the Chicago 7, also came but decided not to speak and quickly left.<ref name="v80" /> Late in the evening, Jacobs stood on the pedestal of the [[Monuments relating to the Haymarket affair|bombed Haymarket policemen's statue]] and declared: "We'll probably lose people today&nbsp;... We don't really have to win here&nbsp;... just the fact that we are willing to fight the police is a political victory."<ref>Avrich, ''The Haymarket Tragedy'', 1984; Ayers, ''Fugitive Days: A Memoir'', 2001; Shepard, "Antiwar Movements, Then and Now", ''Monthly Review'', February 2002; "Statue Honoring Police Is Blown Up in Chicago", ''New York Times'', October 8, 1969; "Haymarket Statue Bombed", ''Chicago Tribune'', October 7, 1969.</ref> Jacobs' speech compared the coming protest to the fight against [[fascism]] in [[World War II]]. By this time there were around 350 protesters.<ref name="v80" />

Finally, at 10:25&nbsp;p.m., [[Jeff Jones (activist)|Jeff Jones]] gave the pre-arranged signal over a bullhorn, and the Weatherman action began. John Jacobs, Jeff Jones, [[David Gilbert (activist)|David Gilbert]] and others led a charge south through the city toward the Drake Hotel and the exceptionally affluent [[Gold Coast Historic District (Chicago)|Gold Coast]] neighborhood, smashing windows in automobiles and buildings as they went. The rioters attacked "ordinary cars, a barber shop&nbsp;... and the windows of lower-middle-class homes" as well as police cars and luxury businesses.<ref name="v80" /> The mass of the crowd ran about four blocks before encountering police barricades. The rioters charged the police, breaking into small groups, and more than 1,000 police counter attacked. The Washington DC contingent reached the hotel's front drive. Before any attempt to gain entrance to the hotel could be made, an unmarked car pulled up to the curb and began firing revolvers into the group of about fifteen unarmed rioters. Although many rioters had motorcycle or football helmets on, the police were better trained and armed; nightsticks were aimed at necks, legs and groins. Large amounts of tear gas were used, and at least twice police ran squad cars full speed into crowds. After only a half-hour or so, the riot was over: 28 policemen were injured (none seriously), six Weathermen were shot (none fatally) an unknown number injured in other ways, and 68 rioters were arrested.<ref name="KSale" /><ref name="DanBerger">Berger, Dan. ''Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground And the Politics of Solidarity'', AK Press, 2005, {{ISBN|1-904859-41-0}}</ref><ref name="Jacobs">Jacobs, ''The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground,'' 1997.</ref>{{sfn|Jones|2004}}{{page?|date=October 2024}}  Jacobs was arrested almost immediately.<ref name="Gillies">Gillies, "The Last Radical", ''Vancouver Magazine,'' November 1998.</ref>

===October 9===
The next day a "Women's Militia" of around seventy women Weatherman members met at Grant Park, where [[Bernardine Dohrn]] addressed them.<ref name="v81" >Varon 81</ref>  The plan was to raid a draft board office, but they were overpowered by police when they tried to leave the park.<ref name="v81" /> Later that day, Illinois Governor [[Richard Ogilvie]] announced that he had called in over 2,500 National Guardsmen to "protect Chicago".<ref name="v81" />  The Weathermen cancelled protests that had been planned for that evening.<ref name="v81" />

===October 10===
The largest event of the Days of Rage occurred on October 10, when RYM II led an interracial march of 2,000 people through a Spanish-speaking part of Chicago.<ref name="DanBerger" /><ref name="Jacobs" />{{sfn|Jones|2004}}{{page?|date=October 2024}}

===October 11===
On October 11, the Weathermen attempted to regroup and reignite the direct action.  About 300 protesters marched swiftly through [[Chicago Loop|The Loop]], Chicago's main business district, watched over by a double-line of heavily armed police. Led by Jacobs and other Weathermen members, the protesters suddenly broke through the police lines and rampaged through the Loop, smashing windows of cars and stores. However, the police were ready, and quickly sealed off the rioters. Within 15 minutes, more than half the crowd had been arrested—one of the first, again, being Jacobs.<ref name="DanBerger" /><ref name="Jacobs" />{{sfn|Jones|2004}}{{page?|date=October 2024}}<ref>Mestrovic, "For Eastern Europe: PR or Policy?", ''Commonweal,'' October 1969.</ref>

[[Richard Elrod]], a city attorney, was paralyzed after Weatherman member [[Brian Flanagan]] stomped his construction boot repeatedly on Elrod's neck. Elrod accused Flanagan of attacking him, while Flanagan maintained that Elrod simply hit a concrete wall. Flanagan was charged with attempted murder and other crimes but was acquitted on all counts.<ref name="chimag2">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/December-2006/Sudden-Impact/index.php?cp=2&si=1#artanc |first=Bryan |last=Smith |date=June 20, 2007 |title=Sudden Impact |magazine=[[Chicago (magazine)|Chicago]] |access-date=May 26, 2011 |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723230403/http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/December-2006/Sudden-Impact/index.php?cp=2&si=1#artanc |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Weathermen later produced a song mocking Elrod, a parody of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", including the lines "Lay, Elrod, lay / Lay in the street for a while / Stay, Elrod, stay / Stay in your bed for a while." 

==Aftermath==
The Days of Rage cost Chicago and the state of Illinois about $183,000 ($100,000 for National Guard payroll, $35,000 in damages, and $20,000 for one injured citizen's medical expenses). Of Weather, 287 members were arrested during the Days of Rage and most of the Weathermen and SDS' leaders were jailed.<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/weather.htm ''FBI documents on the WUO'', Part 1a], Chicago Field Office, 1976</ref> The organization paid out more than $243,000 to cover bail.<ref name="KSale" />

Jones and other Weathermen failed to appear for their March 1970 court date to face charges of "crossing state lines to foment a riot and conspiring to do so". "Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution" charges were added when they failed to appear in court.{{sfn|Jones|2004}}{{page?|date=October 2024}}

==  See also ==
* {{Portal inline|1960s}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General and cited references ==
* Alexander, Robert J. ''Maoism in the Developed World''. New York: Praeger Publishers, 2001. {{ISBN|0-275-96148-6}}.
* Allyn, David. ''Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution: An Unfettered History''. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2000. {{ISBN|0-316-03930-6}}.
* Avorn, J.L. ''Up Against the Ivy Wall''. New York: Scribner, 1968. {{ISBN|0-689-70236-1}}.
* Austin, Curtis J. ''Up Against the Wall: Violence in the Making and Unmaking of the Black Panther Party''. Little Rock: University of Arkansas Press, 2006. {{ISBN|1-55728-827-5}}.
* [[Paul Avrich|Avrich, Paul]]. ''The Haymarket Tragedy''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984. {{ISBN|0-691-00600-8}}.
* [[Bill Ayers|Ayers, William]]. ''Fugitive Days: A Memoir''. Boston: Beacon Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8070-7124-2}}.
* Barber, David. "Leading the Vanguard: White New Leftists School the Panthers on Black Revolution". In ''In Search of the Black Panther Party: New Perspectives on a Revolutionary Movement''. New ed. Jama Lazerow and Yohuru Williams, eds. Raleigh, N.C.: [[Duke University Press]], 2006. {{ISBN|0-8223-3890-4}}.
* [[Dan Berger (American academic)|Berger, Dan]]. ''Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity''. Paperback ed. Oakland, Calif.: [[AK Press]], 2006. {{ISBN|1-904859-41-0}}.
* Burns, Vincent and Peterson, Kate Dempsey. ''Terrorism: A Documentary and Reference Guide''. Westport, Conn.: [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]], 2005. {{ISBN|0-313-33213-4}}.
* Cannato, Vincent. ''The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York''. New York: [[Basic Books]], 2001. {{ISBN|0-465-00843-7}}.
* [[Bernardine Dohrn|Dohrn, Bernardine]]; Ayers, Bill; and Jones, Jeff, eds. ''Sing a Battle Song: The Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, and Communiqués of the Weather Underground, 1970–1974''. New York: [[Seven Stories Press]], 2006. {{ISBN|1-58322-726-1}}.
* Elbaum, Max. ''Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che''. New York: [[Verso Books|Verso]], 2002. {{ISBN|1-85984-617-3}}.
* Jacobs, Harold, ed. "Weatherman". Berkeley, California: Ramparts Press, 1970.
* Jacobs, Ron. ''The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground''. Paperback ed. New York: Verso, 1997. {{ISBN|1-85984-167-8}}.
* [[Peniel E. Joseph|Joseph, Peniel E.]] ''Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America''. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8050-7539-9}}.
* Kahn, Roger. ''The Battle for Morningside Heights: Why Students Rebel''. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1970. {{ISBN|0-688-29254-2}}.
* Kempton, Murray. ''The Briar Patch: The Trial of the Panther 21''. Paperback reprint ed. New York: Da Capo Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-306-80799-8}}.
* {{cite book | last=Kirkpatrick | first=Rob | author-link=Rob Kirkpatrick | year=2009 | title=[[1969: The Year Everything Changed]] | location=New York | publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] | isbn=978-1-60239-366-0}}
* Matusow, Allen J. ''The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s''. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. {{ISBN|0-06-015224-9}}.
* McCaughey, Robert. ''Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-231-13008-2}}.
* Mestrovic, Matthew M. "For Eastern Europe: PR or Policy?" ''Commonweal''. October 1969.
* Rudd, Mark. "Columbia". ''Movement''. March 1969.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090208225524/http://walkingbutterfly.com/diary/2008/01/09/organizing-vs-activism-in-1968/ Rudd, Mark. "Organizing vs. Activism in 1968". Speech given at Drew University, November 4, 2006. Transcribed by Brian Kelly, January 9, 2008.]
* Sale, Kirkpatrick. ''SDS''. New York: Random House, 1973. {{ISBN|0-394-47889-4}}.
* Sprinzak, Ehud. "The Student Movement: Marxism as Symbolic Action". In ''Varieties of Marxism''. Shlomo Avineri, ed. New York: Springer, 1977. {{ISBN|90-247-2024-9}}.
* Varon, Jeremy. ''Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies''. Paperback ed. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-520-24119-3}}.
* Varon, Jeremy. "Between Revolution 9 and Thesis 11: Or, Will We Learn (Again) to Start Worrying and Change the World?" In ''The New Left Revisited: Critical Perspectives on the Past''. John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|1-56639-976-9}}.
* Wilkerson, Cathy. ''Flying Close to the Sun: My Life and Times As a Weatherman''. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2007. {{ISBN|1-58322-771-7}}.

===Secondary sources===
* Churchill, Ward and Vander Wall, Jim. ''The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States''. 2d ed. Boston: South End Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-89608-648-8}}.
* Collier, Peter, and Horowitz, David. "Doing It: The Inside Story of the Rise and Fall of the Weather Underground". ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. September 30, 1982.
* "FBI Drops 10-Year Hunt for 'Weather' Group Leaders". ''Los Angeles Times''. October 20, 1979.
* Gillies, Kevin. "The Last Radical". ''Vancouver Magazine''. November 1998.
* Good, Thomas. "Brian Flanagan Speaks". ''Next Left Notes''. 2005.
* "Haymarket Statue Bombed". ''Chicago Tribune''. October 7, 1969.
* {{cite book|last=Jones|first=Thai|title=A Radical Line: From the Labor Movement to the Weather Underground, One Family's Century of Conscience|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-5027-3|location=New York|publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]}}
* Kifner, John. "12 S.D.S. Militants Indicted in Chicago". ''New York Times''. April 3, 1970.
* Klonsky, Mike. "Toward A Revolutionary Youth Movement". ''New Left Notes''. December 23, 1968.
* [http://www.thelamp.ca/film/index.php?id=27 MacLennan, Catherine. "How Can You Do Nothing? The Weather Underground Bring the War Home". ''The Lamp''. April 2004.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215033432/http://www.thelamp.ca/film/index.php?id=27 |date=December 15, 2007 }}
* Patterson, John. "They Emerged From 1960s Radical Chic to Become America's Most Wanted Fugitives". ''The Guardian''. July 4, 2003.
* "Statue Honoring Police Is Blown Up in Chicago". ''New York Times''. October 8, 1969.
* Shepard, Benjamin. "Antiwar Movements, Then and Now". ''[[Monthly Review]]''. February 2002.
* Short, John G. "The Weathermen're Shot, They're Bleeding, They're Running, They're Wiping Stuff Out". ''Harvard Crimson''. June 11, 1970.
* Smith, Bryan. "Sudden Impact". ''Chicago Magazine''. December 2006.
* "You Don't Need A Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows". ''New Left Notes''. June 18, 1969.

{{Weather Underground}}
{{Anti-Vietnam}}
{{Illinois riots}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Days Of Rage}}
[[Category:1969 in Illinois]]
[[Category:1969 riots]]
[[Category:Far-left politics in the United States]]
[[Category:1960s in Chicago]]
[[Category:New Left]]
[[Category:October 1969 in the United States]]
[[Category:Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Political riots in the United States]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Chicago]]
[[Category:20th-century political riots]]
[[Category:1969 in American politics]]