I have a good one for us local old-school Santa Barbara folks... how about the Isla Vista Riots of 1970. I was only 8 years old and never knew what the heck was going on, but this was the national report... More than 1,000 kids seized a three-block business district in a student neighborhood near the University of California at Santa Barbara Wednesday night, Feb. 25, 1970 and held it from police for six hours, smashed windows, set fire to a police car, and burned a plush Bank of America office to the ground doing more than a quarter of a million dollars damage to the bank alone. Five hundred national guardsmen were called out Friday, Feb. 27th, and another 2,500 placed on standby alert after students drove 300 police out of their neighborhood three nights in a row. Two inches of rain plus a student decision not to fight the Guard quieted the area Friday and Saturday nights. We dont have any quarrel with them, a spokesman said. California Gov. Ronald Reagan flew to Santa Barbara on Thursday morning. He called the demonstrators cowardly little bums, declared a state of extreme emergency, and placed National Guard units on alert. He also said he would declare martial law if necessary. County officials ordered a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and police were ordered to prohibit loitering on public streets and to break up assemblies of more than three persons. What the hell were those hippies rioting about anyways? Ol Ronnie almost ordered M551 Sheridan Tanks into Isla Vista!!! I imagine that there has to be at least one of you hippie rioters left out there to comment! Please do tell your side of the story!
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 07:33:53 +0000
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