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There are other reasons too. First of all it was small. It was isolated to the port and army base approach road. It was a vulnerable military and civilian infrastucture facility. There were also class reasons. There were truckers, longshoreman, and generally working class men involved. These were not the peace and love crew. Although the working class men present were mostly by-standers, they represented a potential threat. They were waiting to get into the port and base, but they were not crossing the picket line. A kind of de facto support.
So the cops were mainly teaching them a lesson, not the small demo. It was a message that the city will break a working class demo and picket with force. Not that the longshoreman and truckers have forgotten that. It was just a reminder.
Chuck Grimes