Unemployed Riot

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 83, 9 April 1934, Page 7

Unemployed Riot

TROUBLE AT MINNEAPOLIS EIGHTEEN PERSONS INJURED By Telegraph—Presfl Association—Copyn»fcv Received April 8, 7.5 r •i. MINNEAPOLIS, April 6. One of the most serious riots that has yet occurred anywhere in the country as a result of the cessation of relief provisions for the unemployed, took place here to-day, when following the arrest of a delegation wearing red arm bands and led by a woman on crutches as they attempted to enter the Town liall to present demands for a continuation of the civil works administration and cash relief funds, a fight bet\ en the police and the unemploy i ensued, resulting in injury io 18 persons and the spattering of sidewalks with blood. Three thousand demonstrators attempted to rush upon the Town Hall, only to be rcp< tmlly repulsed by the police, ten of whom were badly beaten by the mob. While the policemen refrained from employing the • 'ichinc-guns mounted near the building, depending chiefly on batons and tear gas to restrain the rioters, the latter hurled paving blocks, coal and scrap iron from passing vehicles, not only finding the police a target but doing considerable damage to the Town Hall itself. With the howls of the mob clearly audible, the City Council hurriedly voted the relief demands. When this information was communicated to tho rioters they gradually dispersed, but the police maintained a heavy cordon around tho building on rumours that a bomb outrage might be attempted.