In New York City, construction workers angry at the lack of patriotism displayed by a nearby antiwar protest swarmed down from a skyscraper project and beat the protesters—the police refused to get involved—sparking a pro-Nixon backlash that would lead to twenty-five thousand “hard-hats” marching on City Hall and lower Manhattan. Late that May, the Weathermen issued a three-page “Declaration of a State of War,” promising that they would “attack a symbol or institution of American injustice” within two weeks.
