But this was just the beginning of the employers’ assault and the strikers’ response. In San Francisco a thousand or more strikers would gather daily on the Embarcadero, the street running the length of the docks, and march quietly behind the American flag and union banners. On May 28 hundreds of police suddenly and without warning attacked the marchers with clubs, tear gas, and finally bullets, shooting one striker in the back.

One of the police captains presiding over the attack justified his actions on the grounds that the strikers were “led by Communists.” His lieutenant vowed that “If the strikers come back for more, you’ll find some of them in the morgue after the next time.” Both of these men were later dismissed from the force in disgrace for corruption. But for the time being their comments were widely and approvingly reprinted in the newspapers.