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67-816: Ford security and city police The Ford Hunger March , sometimes called the Ford Massacre , was a demonstration on March 7, 1932 in the United States by unemployed auto workers in Detroit, Michigan , which took place during the height of the Great Depression . The march started in Detroit and ended in Dearborn, Michigan , in a confrontation in which four workers were shot to death by the Dearborn Police Department and

134-530: A political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally , in order to hear speakers. It is different from mass meeting . Actions such as blockades and sit-ins may also be referred to as demonstrations. Demonstrations can be nonviolent or violent (usually referred to by participants as " militant "), or can begin as nonviolent and turn violent depending on

201-492: A car, opened a window, and fired a pistol into the crowd. Immediately, the car was pelted with rocks, and Bennett was injured. He exited the car and continued firing at the retreating marchers. Dearborn police and Ford security men opened fire with machine guns on the retreating marchers. Joe Bussell (16) was killed, dozens more men were wounded, and Bennett was hospitalized. About 25 Dearborn police officers were injured by thrown rocks and other debris, but none by gunfire. All of

268-518: A check as soon as possible for any monies that may be due you under the collective bargaining agreement between the Detroit Times and the Guild." The telegrams offered no explanations for the terminations. Employees were only informed that the building was locked and there were armed guards around it. A week or so later employees could return to clear their desks, accompanied by those armed guards. The news of

335-512: A communist hiding behind a parked car were cited by police Monday night as the match which touched off a riot at the Ford Motor Company plant." The Detroit Free Press wrote that "These professional Communists alone are morally guilty of the assaults and killings which took place before the Ford plant." The Mirror ran a headline saying "Red Leaders Facing Murder Trials". In the following days,

402-500: A demonstration. Another common tactic is to infiltrate legitimate demonstrations in the attempt to stir widespread violence and rioting, seen most recently in a spring anti-Iraq war gathering in Vancouver, Canada. This has become so commonplace that sources within activist organizations have told STRATFOR they police their own demonstrations to prevent infiltration by fringe groups. Detroit Times Six different newspapers called

469-416: A general doctrine of nonviolence or pacifism , but from considerations relating to the particular situation that is faced, including its legal, cultural and power-political dimensions: this has been the case in many campaigns of civil resistance . A common tactic used by nonviolent campaigners is the "dilemma demonstration." Activist trainer Daniel Hunter describes this term as covering "actions that force

536-596: A lawful way to demonstrate. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution specifically allows the freedom of assembly as part of a measure to facilitate the redress of such grievances. "Amendment I: Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." A growing trend in the United States has been

603-696: A licence from the authorities. Such laws include the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act and the Public Order Act. Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Terrorism Act 2006 , there are areas designated as 'protected sites' where people are not allowed to go. Previously, these were military bases and nuclear power stations, but the law changed in 2007 to include other, generally political areas, such as Downing Street ,

670-416: A public issue, especially relating to a perceived grievance or social injustice . A demonstration is usually considered more successful if more people participate. Research shows that anti-government demonstrations occur more frequently in affluent countries than in poor ones. Historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote of demonstrations: Next to sex, the activity combining bodily experience and intense emotion to

737-496: A sale of the Times had been circulating for weeks, then on the evening of Sunday, November 6, 1960, Newsweek magazine broke the story with the headline,"One Out In Detroit," explaining that Hearst's "limping" paper had been sold to The Evening News Association, owner of its "independently owned, well-heeled competitor," The Detroit News . Reports of the sale also appeared that evening on Detroit radio station WXYZ (now WXYT ) as well as in

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804-457: A speech in Detroit in preparation for the march. The marchers intended to present 14 demands to Henry Ford , the head of the Ford Motor Company. The demands included rehiring the unemployed, providing funds for health care, ending racial discrimination in hiring and promotions, providing winter fuel for the unemployed, abolishing the use of company spies and private police against workers, and acknowledging workers' right to organize unions. March 7

871-409: A variety of elements. These may include: Demonstrations are sometimes spontaneous gatherings, but are also utilized as a tactical choice by movements. They often form part of a larger campaign of nonviolent resistance , often also called civil resistance . Demonstrations are generally staged in public, but private demonstrations are certainly possible, especially if the demonstrators wish to influence

938-410: Is a brutal practice that should find no encouragement in an enlightened hospital". Murphy was criticized because some observers thought Detroit police may have been involved in the violence. But a historian writing nearly 50 years later described their role as "peripheral". Murphy denounced Harry Bennett as an "inhuman brute" and called Henry Ford a "terrible man". He asked, "What is the difference between

1005-583: Is granted by art. 5th, item XVI, of the Constitution of Brazil (1988). Freedom of assembly in the Russian Federation is granted by Art. 31 of the Constitution adopted in 1993: Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to gather peacefully, without weapons, and to hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets . Demonstrations and protests are further regulated by

1072-586: The Detroit Times have been published in the city of Detroit ; the most recent existed for six decades, from 1900 to 1960. The sixth and most recent version (to date) of the Detroit Times was published as an evening paper from 1900 until November 6, 1960. The Times was brought back to life by James Schermerhorn October 1, 1900 as Detroit Today but quickly changed its name to the Evening Times . The paper

1139-460: The Automotive industry in the United States . In the 1920s, prosperity came to the Detroit area, because of the successes of the U.S. auto industry in that decade. Concentrated in the Detroit area, the industry produced 5,337,000 vehicles in 1929, when many individuals bought their first cars. The 1930 United States Census reported the population as 122,775,046. As a point of reference, in 2008,

1206-510: The News began using the presses of the Times to help with its huge bump in circulation. Before the News bought the Times , its daily circulation was around 525,000 and 740,000 on Sunday. After the sale, the News was printing 900,000 copies daily and 1.2 million on Sundays. (The first such Sunday run, on November 13, 1960, broke the record for largest print run in the history of Detroit.) About 300,000 of

1273-545: The Palace of Westminster , and the headquarters of MI5 and MI6 . Previously, trespassers to these areas could not be arrested if they had not committed another crime and agreed to be escorted out, but this will change following amendments to the law. Human rights groups fear the powers could hinder peaceful protest. Nick Clegg , the then Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "I am not aware of vast troops of trespassers wanting to invade MI5 or MI6, still less running

1340-469: The Times became the fastest-growing paper in the city, rivaling The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press in the great Detroit newspaper war. The Times hit its highest circulation in 1951, with an average daily high of 438,757 papers sold. But the 1950s were not kind to the newspaper business, and the Times' circulation numbers slipped to about 400,000 copies sold daily by 1960. Rumors of

1407-404: The Times , closed it down in the middle of the night with no advance warning, locked down its building, and fired its employees. Many of the Times' pressmen, stereotypers, paper handlers, machinists, electricians and mailers were offered jobs printing the News . The News also offered all Times carriers jobs. The biggest names amongst the Times reporters were cherry-picked for positions with

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1474-483: The Times' presses along with its own until 1975, when it opened a new, state-of-the art printing plant in Sterling Heights , Michigan, that replaced both, and is still in use to this day, publishing the News , the rival Free Press (due to a joint operating agreement) and several other papers. The Times building was demolished in 1978. The area where the Times was located is still called Times Square , although

1541-630: The United Nations special rapporteur on the right of peaceful assembly and association. In 2019, its report expressed alarm at the restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly: The Special Rapporteur has expressed concern regarding laws adopted in many countries that impose harsh restrictions on assemblies, including provisions relating to blanket bans, geographical restrictions, mandatory notifications and authorizations. [...] The need for prior authorization in order to hold peaceful protests [is] contrary to international law [...]. A report released by

1608-431: The police . Police and military authorities often use non-lethal force or less-lethal weapons, such as tasers , rubber bullets , pepper spray , and tear gas against demonstrators in these situations. Sometimes violent situations are caused by the preemptive or offensive use of these weapons which can provoke, destabilize, or escalate a conflict. As a known tool to prevent the infiltration by agents provocateurs ,

1675-499: The 900,000 daily copies and 200,000 of the Sunday copies were printed on the Times' presses. This acquisition is a major reason why for many years, The Detroit News could boast beneath its masthead of having "The Largest Evening Circulation In America," which was eventually downsized to "Michigan's Largest Newspaper." That lasted until the News was overtaken in daily circulation by the rival Free Press . The News would continue to use

1742-517: The Federal Law of the Russian Federation No.54-FZ " On Meetings, Rallies, Demonstrations, Marches and Pickets ". If the assembly in public is expected to involve more than one participant, its organisers are obliged to notify executive or local self-government authorities of the upcoming event few days in advance in writing. However, legislation does not foresee an authorisation procedure, hence

1809-685: The Ford Motor Plant in Dearborn on Monday has cast a stain on this community that will remain a disgrace for many years." On March 12, an estimated 25,000 to 60,000 people participated in a funeral procession for the four dead marchers, who were buried side by side in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit. The slogan of the funeral march was "Smash the Ford-Murphy Terror". Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy said that "the chaining of patient prisoners to beds

1876-520: The Human Rights Law Centre in 2024 states that based on British common law, " Australian courts regard [the right to assembly] as a core part of a democratic system of government. " However, there are a number of limitations placed on demonstrations and protest under state, territory and federal legislation, with forty-nine laws introduced regarding them since 2004. Freedom of assembly in Brazil

1943-529: The U.S. auto industry produced 8,681,000 vehicles in 2008 and the U.S. population was estimated at 304,375,000. Therefore, the U.S. auto industry was producing 50% more vehicles per capita in 1929, than in the early 21st century with more competition from foreign auto makers. On Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed , leading to the Great Depression . Vehicle production in the country plummeted. In 1930, production declined to 3,363,000 vehicles. In 1931, production fell to 1,332,000 vehicles, only 25% of

2010-407: The administration of the grand jury "the most biased, prejudiced, and ignorant proceeding imaginable". This grand juror, Mrs. Jerry Houghton Bacon, said that she "witnessed the most glaring discrimination on the parts of the prosecutors in the treatment of witnesses brought before the grand jury. Marked prejudice was voiced by the prosecutors which, without regard to its intent, impressed and influenced

2077-543: The aim of opposing the demonstrators and presenting their view. Clashes between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators may turn violent. Government-organized demonstrations are demonstrations which are organized by a government. The Islamic Republic of Iran , the People's Republic of China , Republic of Cuba , the Soviet Union and Argentina , among other nations, have had government-organized demonstrations. Sometimes

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2144-588: The authorities have no right to prohibit an assembly or change its place unless it threatens the security of participants or is planned to take place near hazardous facilities, important railways , viaducts , pipelines , high voltage electric power lines , prisons , courts , presidential residences or in the border control zone. The right to gather can also be restricted in close proximity of cultural and historical monuments. Public demonstrations in Singapore are not common, in part because cause-related events require

2211-439: The best features from the Detroit Times," meaning that even as former Times workers were still trying to absorb the shock of the news they had just received that morning, Times subscribers would begin receiving deliveries of the News - featuring the Times masthead - later that afternoon. In reality, very few of the Times staff were offered jobs with the "merged" paper, as it was no merger. The News had in fact, purchased

2278-427: The circumstances. Sometimes riot police or other forms of law enforcement become involved. In some cases, this may be in order to try to prevent the protest from taking place at all. In other cases, it may be to prevent clashes between rival groups, or to prevent a demonstration from spreading and turning into a riot . The term has been in use since the mid-19th century, as was the term " monster meeting ", which

2345-456: The date or location chosen for the demonstration is of historical or cultural significance, such as the anniversary of some event that is relevant to the topic of the demonstration. Locations are also frequently chosen because of some relevance to the issue at hand. For example, if a demonstration is targeted at issues relating to foreign nation , the demonstration may take place at a location associated with that nation, such as an embassy of

2412-616: The early "bulldog" edition of the Detroit Free Press . The Free Press reported at the time that only one person at the Times , General Manager William H. Mills, knew of the imminence of the sale, and that H.G. Kern, general manager of the Hearst chain, had informed Mills of the completion of the sale as early as Friday, November 4, instructing him to only inform the employees on Monday morning. The Times' 1,500 employees were given little notice: They received termination telegrams at two in

2479-410: The expanding operations of the News , as well as the rival Detroit Free Press . About 400 of the Guild members at the Times were sent scrambling for jobs at out-of-town papers, or left to find jobs in different industries. Hearst executives expressed "regret at leaving Detroit" after nearly 40 years, but said that, much like the current troubling era for print journalism, "the Times has been beset by

2546-453: The form of tear gas. However, we believe that the said police discharged what they conscientiously considered to be their sworn duty as law enforcing officials, alike when they intercepted the rioters at the city's limit, using tear gas and in the critical and violent situation which ensued employing gunfire to protect life and property, which were then manifestly in danger." One grand juror, a political ally of Frank Murphy , dissented, calling

2613-695: The gauntlet of security checks in Whitehall and Westminster to make a point. It's a sledgehammer to crack a nut." Liberty , the civil liberties pressure group, said the measure was "excessive". One of the biggest demonstration in the UK was the people vote march, on 19 October 2019, with around 1 million demonstrators related to the Brexit . In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that blocking roads can be

2680-538: The graves of fellow marchers. Nine years later, on April 11, 1941, after the economy had begun to recover and 40,000 Ford workers conducted a ten-day sit down strike , Henry Ford signed a collective bargaining agreement with the United Auto Workers union. Prosecutor Harry S. Toy convened a grand jury to investigate the violence. At the end of June, they completed their investigation and issued their report. They said "After hearing many witnesses on both sides of

2747-433: The highest degree is the participation in a mass demonstration at a time of great public exaltation. Unlike sex, which is essentially individual, it is by its nature collective… like sex it implies some physical action—marching, chanting slogans, singing—through which the merger of the individual in the mass, which is the essence of the collective experience, finds expression. There are many types of demonstrations, including

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2814-543: The implementation of " free speech zones ", or fenced-in areas which are often far-removed from the event which is being protested; critics of free-speech zones argue that they go against the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by their very nature, and that they lessen the impact the demonstration might otherwise have had. In many areas it is required to get permission from the government to hold

2881-496: The local newspapers gathered more information and changed their tone, reassigning blame for the deaths and severe injuries of unemployed and unarmed workers. The Detroit Times , for example, said that "Someone, it is now admitted, blundered in the handling of the throng of Hunger Marchers that sought to present petitions at the Ford plant in River Rouge." The newspaper continued that 'The killing of obscure workmen, innocent of crime"

2948-467: The marchers avoid violence. The march proceeded peacefully along the streets of Detroit until it reached the Dearborn city limits. There, the Dearborn police attempted to stop the march by firing tear gas into the crowd and hitting marchers with clubs. One officer fired a gun in the direction of the marchers. The unarmed crowd scattered into a field covered with stones and threw them at police. The angry marchers regrouped and advanced nearly one mile toward

3015-475: The matter, this grand jury finds no legal grounds for indictments. However, we find that the conduct of the demonstrators was ill-considered and unlawful in their utter disregard for constituted authority. We find, further, that the conduct of the Dearborn City Police when they first met the demonstrators, though well-intended, might have been more discreet, and better considered before they applied force in

3082-506: The minds of the jurors." Photographic evidence of the march and the funerals that followed are at the website of the Walter P. Reuther Library , Wayne State University . Documentation of the march is in a film by the Workers Film and Photo League of Detroit. Demonstration (protest) A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of

3149-475: The morning on Monday, November 7, mere hours before they would begin reporting for work. The telegrams stated the following: "It is with deep regret that the management of the Detroit Times must inform you of termination of your services as of the opening of business on Nov. 7, 1960. It is not necessary for you to report for further duty. Your paycheck will be available on your usual payday in the Detroit Times lobby. The chief accountant has been instructed to mail you

3216-418: The nation in question. While fixed demonstrations may take place in pedestrian zones , larger marches usually take place on roads. It may happen with or without an official authorisation. Protest marches and demonstrations are a common nonviolent tactic. They are thus one tactic available to proponents of strategic nonviolence . However, the reasons for avoiding the use of violence may also derive, not from

3283-415: The official Dearborn police and Ford's guards?" His answer was, "A legalistic one." A fifth marcher, Curtis Williams (36), died of injuries five months later on August 7, 1932. When Williams, an African American , died of injuries, Woodmere Cemetery disallowed his burial there under its "whites only" policy of segregation. Curtis Williams's family arranged for his cremation, and his ashes were scattered near

3350-414: The opinions of a small or very specific group of people. Demonstrations are usually physical gatherings, but virtual or online demonstrations are certainly possible. Topics of demonstrations often deal with political , economic , and social issues. Particularly with controversial issues, sometimes groups of people opposed to the aims of a demonstration may themselves launch a counter-demonstration with

3417-469: The organizers of large or controversial assemblies may deploy and coordinate demonstration marshals , also called stewards. The right to demonstrate peacefully is guaranteed by international conventions, in particular by the articles 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( right of peaceful assembly and right of association ). Its implementation is monitored by

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3484-405: The plant. There, two fire engines sprayed cold water onto the marchers from an overpass . The police were joined by Ford security guards and shot into the crowd. Marchers Joe York (20), Kalman Leny (26), and Joe DeBlasio (31) were killed, and at least 22 others were wounded by gunfire. The leaders canceled the march and began an orderly retreat. Harry Bennett , head of Ford security, drove up in

3551-493: The production of two years before. As a result, unemployment in Detroit skyrocketed, and the wages of those still working were slashed. In 1929, the average annual wage for auto workers was US$ 1,639 (equivalent to about $ 29,100 in 2023). By 1931, it had fallen 54% to $ 757 (equivalent to $ 15,200 in 2023). By 1932, 400,000 were unemployed in Michigan. Detroit had 113 suicides in 1927, increased to 568 in 1931. In that year,

3618-424: The sale began to surface, and the day after the unannounced final edition of the Times , the News and Hearst released a joint statement reporting the sale as a merger. The $ 10 million deal included the Times , its building, its presses, all physical assets, distribution rights and subscription lists. That same day, the News began showing the Times' masthead below theirs, displaying, "The Detroit News - including

3685-408: The sale was delivered to the newsroom staff in the middle of the night, at approximately 3am on Monday, November 7. They were nearly finished with that day's first edition of the Times , but were given the news, told to stop what they were doing and to leave the premises, making the Sunday, November 6, 1960 edition the final ever for the Detroit Times . On Monday, November 7, the day after reports of

3752-444: The same basic problems confronting so many other metropolitan newspapers," and that circulation and advertising were not rising to match the cost of doing business. The Times reportedly had lost $ 10 million in the previous five years. The prevailing opinion of the sale was that the Hearst papers, which were in financial trouble, sold the Detroit Times because it was one of the few properties that anyone wanted to buy. On November 11,

3819-690: The security guards employed by the Ford Motor Company . More than 60 workers were injured, many by gunshot wounds. Five months later, a fifth worker died of his injuries. The march was supported by the Unemployed Councils , a project of the Communist Party USA . It was followed by the Battle of the Overpass in 1937, and was an important part of a chain of events that resulted in the unionization of

3886-536: The seriously wounded marchers were arrested, and the police chained many to their hospital beds after they were admitted for treatment. A nationwide search was conducted for William Z. Foster, but he was not arrested. No law enforcement or Ford security officer was arrested, although all reliable reports showed that only they had engaged in all the gunfire, resulting in deaths, injuries, and property damage. The New York Times reported that "Dearborn streets were stained with blood, streets were littered with broken glass and

3953-510: The target to either let you do what you want, or be shown as unreasonable as they stop you from doing it". A study by Srdja Popovic and Sophia McClennen won the 2020 Brown Democracy Medal for its examination of 44 examples of dilemma demonstrations and the ways in which they were used to achieve goals within civil resistance campaigns. Some demonstrations and protests can turn, at least partially, into riots or mob violence against objects such as automobiles and businesses , bystanders and

4020-675: The unemployed despaired. The Detroit Unemployed Council and the Auto, Aircraft and Vehicle Workers of America called for a march on Monday, March 7, 1932, from Detroit to Dearborn, to end at the Ford River Rouge Complex , the company's largest factory. The principal organizers of the march were Albert Goetz, a leader of the Detroit Unemployed Council, and John Schmies, the Communist candidate for mayor of Detroit . Detroit's mayor

4087-595: The welfare allowance was $ 0.15 (equivalent to $ 3.01 in 2023) per person per day. At the time, neither states nor the federal government provided unemployment insurance, and Social Security did not yet exist. A wave of bank closures destroyed the life savings of many unemployed workers and retirees, as every neighborhood bank in Detroit went out of business. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had not yet been established by Congress to secure bank deposits and protect people's savings. By 1932, foreclosures, evictions, repossessions, and bankruptcies were commonplace, and

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4154-432: The wreckage of bullet-riddled automobiles, and nearly every window in the Ford plant's employment building had been broken". The following day, Detroit newspapers reported sensational and mistaken accounts of the violence, apparently based on rumors or false police reports. The Detroit Times , for example, falsely claimed that Harry Bennett and four policemen had been shot. The Detroit Press said that "six shots fired by

4221-533: Was Frank Murphy ; his profile rose after the incident, eventually becoming Governor of Michigan and later appointed to the Supreme Court by Franklin D. Roosevelt as an Associate Justice . The Murphy administration allowed the march to proceed, although it did not grant a permit. On March 6, William Z. Foster , secretary of the Trade Union Unity League and a leader of the Communist Party, gave

4288-520: Was "a blow directed at the very heart of American institutions." The Detroit News reported that "Insofar as the demonstration itself had leaders present in the march, they appear to have warned the participants against a fight." The mainstream trade union movement spoke out against the killings. The Detroit Federation of Labor, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor , issued a statement saying that "The outrageous murdering of workers at

4355-511: Was bitterly cold. A crowd estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 gathered near the Dearborn city limits, about one mile from the Ford plant. The Detroit Times called it "one of the coldest days of the winter, with a frigid gale whooping out of the northwest". Marchers carried banners reading "Give Us Work", "We Want Bread Not Crumbs", and "Tax the Rich and Feed the Poor". Albert Goetz gave a speech, asking that

4422-500: Was coined initially with reference to the huge assemblies of protesters inspired by Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847) in Ireland. Demonstrations are a form of activism , usually taking the form of a public gathering of people in a rally or walking in a march . Thus, the opinion is demonstrated to be significant by gathering in a crowd associated with that opinion. Demonstrations can promote a viewpoint (either positive or negative) regarding

4489-409: Was purchased, after the property was placed in the hands of a receiver, by William Randolph Hearst in the later part of 1921. At the time Hearst purchased the Times it was located at 131 Bagley Street; Hearst wasted no time working out plans for a new state-of-the-art printing plant. With the backing of Hearst, who dispatched famed editor Arthur Brisbane to Detroit to kickstart the new management,

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