Police Quash Labor Riot

Aug. 9, 1910: Los Angeles Police Capt. Lenhausen leads fellow officers in dispersing a crowd of more than 500 rowdy brewery strikers and sympathizers as demonstrators picketed the Belmont Bar at 5th and Main streets. Although The Times' account is far more colorful and venomous (the mob included " 'hop-head' boys, drunken loafers, degenerate seekers of excitement and empty-headed trouble-seekers") the Herald also portrays a volatile situation in which a large, raucous crowd vastly outnumbered police. One interesting item involves newspaper photographer Arthur McDowell, who was beaten while taking a picture of a picketer being arrested because (at least according to The Times) strikers mistook him for a Times photographer when he actually worked for an unidentified paper that was friendly to labor.

Aug. 9, 1910: Los Angeles Herald.

Comments

[Dennis Gilliam]

I have always believed that this period of Southern California history-culminating in the bombing of the LA Times by the McNamara brothers, still has a profound impact on California today. The strong anti-union bent that has long permeated the LA region, is the main reason that California has a much lower rate of employer based health coverage than Mid-Western or North-East where labor and management finally reconciled.