Hard Hat Riot

On May 8, 1970, the Hard Hat Riot erupted in lower Manhattan when construction workers, including those building the World Trade Center, violently clashed at midday with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War. A struggling metropolis, a flailing president and a divided people met at this bloody juncture as the nation violently diverged, culminating in a new political and cultural landscape that radically redefined American politics and foreshadowed the future.