The May Day Riots of 1919 were a series of violent demonstrations that occurred throughout Cleveland, Ohio on May 1 (May Day), 1919. The riots began when Socialist leader, Charles Ruthenberg organized a May Day parade of local unionists, socialists, communists, and anarchists. to protest the jailing of Eugene V. Debs. The previous year, Debs's Federal Court trial was held in Cleveland. The event was also aimed at helping promote Ruthenberg's own candidacy for mayor of Cleveland. The 32 groups were divided into four units, each holding a Socialist flag and an American flag at its head.
As they marched to Cleveland's Public Square, one of the units was stopped on Superior Ave. by a group of Victory Loan Workers who demanded them to lower their flags. The marchers refused to do so and immediately mass fighting broke out. Chaos quickly spread throughout the downtown area. Ruthenberg's party headquarters on Prospect Ave. were ransacked by a mob.
Order was finally restored by mounted police, army trucks, and tanks. Casualties amounted to two people killed, forty injured, and one hundred and sixteen arrested (one of them Ruthenberg himself on a charge of "assault with intent to kill"). The following month the home of Cleveland Mayor, Harry L. Davis was bombed by anarchists. Overall, Cleveland's May Day Riots are seen as the most violent of a series of similar disorders that took place throughout the United States as a result of the first Red Scare.
See also
- May Day Riots of 1894
- 1886's Haymarket Riot, at the origin of May Day.
References
- The Encyclopedia Of Cleveland History by Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David D. Van Tassel (Editor), and John J. Grabowski (Editor) ISBN 0253330564