In 1968 I was a grad student at MIT and taking some courses at Harvard. I had my office in Building 20 at MIT, the old Rad Lab from WW II. From time to time one could smell tear gas from Harvard Square. But MIT was still immune from protestors. But by 1969 that somehow changed. I had a distinguished Math Prof suggest we all go to DC and protest. I had multiple courses to study and teach, a thesis to complete, and family to feed and shelter. Besides at that point my Draft card had somehow disappeared I gather due to certain projects I had worked on.
By early 1970 I was still in Bldg 20, a wooden shack and clearly a fire hazard, when SDS decided to bomb the ROTC located in the adjacent corridor to my office. Fortunately they were intercepted. That June I had a final to monitor in my Electronics class in the Armory on Mass Ave. A Captain from Cambridge Police came and told me of a bomb threat and it was up to me as what to do. My answer was simple, keep going. He thought I was a bit risky but as I told him my father and grandfather were NY Police and we do not put up with terrorists. I then informed the students giving them the option to leave. None did. No bomb. The Captain returned and noted that NY Police seem to have b..ls.
The reasons in the 60s was clear, a war that was killing thousands of young men and women, yes women were killed, each month, seen daily on TV. It became personal. One could relate. Moreover it became clear to some who had access to certain information that the Government was fabricating facts, things were worse than what citizens were told, and by May 1970 with the murders at Kent State by National Guard forces, things had gotten out of control.
In 2024 the problem is truly different. The protestors are well organized by third parties seeking to overthrow the status quo. Unlike the Jan 6 riots, these actions are a well organized attempt to instill fear in the populace at large. It is not a one day affair, but a massive attempt of masked invaders to overthrow the status quo, denying access to facilities. Thus in my opinion and in my experience there is no parallel to these two periods.
1968 overthrew Johnson. I remember his television speech, a shock for those expecting his usual all goes well speech. In the current environment one wonders what will happen. Chicago 1968 Redux or something different. I suspect different. The media world is different. This will be a hot summer in more ways than one. However one does wonder what our Government law enforcement intel folks are doing? Maybe Herbert Hoover had some value after all.
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