Today in Labor History January 31, 1971: For the second time in six months, rioting broke out during an anti-war protest in East Los Angeles. Police fired into the crowd, killing one protester. The anti-war demonstrations were organized by the Chicano Moratorium. Chicanos were dying at a higher rate during the Vietnam War than white Americans. During the August 29, 1970 protests, police killed three people, including Journalist and Civil Rights activist Ruben Salazar. Oscar Zeta Acosta portrayed Salazar in his 1973 novel, “The Revolt of the Cockroach People.” Hunter S. Thompson portrayed Acosta as his “Samoan attorney” in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Salazar was the first Mexican journalist for a mainstream newspaper (L.A. Times) to write about the Chicano community. He also worked as the Times’ bureau chief in Mexico City and covered both the Tlatelolco Massacre and the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic, both in 1965. Because of his outspoken support for the Chicano movement, and his criticism of racism and police abuse against the Chicano community, he was a target of FBI surveillance. Many believe his death was an assassination.
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