elsewheregreen:San Francisco, May 21, 1979: over 500 members of San Francisco’s Castro District comm

elsewheregreen:San Francisco, May 21, 1979: over 500 members of San Francisco’s Castro District community protest the lenient sentencing of Dan White for the premeditated murders of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, and the Mayor George Moscone, in City Hall. By the time the protest reached City Hall, it has swelled to over 5000 people, and soon became the largest LGBT riot since Stonewall in 1969.    Six months after the murders White was convicted, not of first-degree murder, but voluntary manslaughter. White’s defense team had pointed to his supposedly diminished mental capacity and emotional state at the time of the murders, as indicated by the once-health conscious White consuming too much junk food– a ploy that became known as the “Twinkie Defense.” The jury - predominantly white, Roman Catholic and heterosexual - bought into it, recommending the lesser charge, which led to a sentence of just 7 years and 8 months.As the crowd grew, so did the anger. Police soon arrived to try to control the situation, but that only served to enrage the crowd more. The police had raised over $100,000 for White’s defense–he was a former police officer–and many in the community believed the department had conspired to reduce White’s charges and sentencing. Although ordered to simply hold the crowd back, many officers began attacking the protestors with night sticks. Many had even taped over their badges, so as not to be identified.Chaos erupted, as the crowd fought with police and destroyed a dozen police vehicles, as well as parts of City Hall itself. After three hours, officers moved in to quell the rioting for good, using tear gas in the process, and the crowd dispersed. In all, 59 officers and 124 protestors were injured, with about two dozen arrests made.Hours later, several police officers gathered on their own to raid the Castro neighborhood, vandalizing a local bar and assaulting patrons. They shouted anti-gay slurs at the victims, and eventually turned their attention to attacking anyone that happened to be out on Castro Street. It wasn’t until the police chief arrived that the violence ended.A civil grand jury later convened found insufficient evidence to indict anyone for the riots.“Harvey Milk’s people do not have anything to apologize for,” said Supervisor Harry Britt at a press conference the day after the White Night riots. “Now the society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing salons, but as people capable of violence.“We’re not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore.” -- source link

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