New York Stock Exchange ca. 1970

On the morning of May 8th of 1970, 700 activists, mostly college and high schoolers, gathered at the intersection of Broad and Wall Street to protest the Kent State shootings and Vietnam War. However as the day wore on, hundreds of construction workers, mobilized by the head of the AFL-CIO John Brennan, arrived as counter-protestors and began harassing the activists. At first, the construction workers simply pushed the activists but realizing the police were indifferent to their actions breached the line and started assaulting them. In what became known as the hard-hat riots, the construction workers then pursued the students and beat them, as well as forcing their way into PACE University and City Hall. Only six arrests were made as the police largely observed the riot.