In February 1970, members of the Chicago Seven were sentenced on contempt charges stemming from riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Demonstrations took place in numerous cities. The Seattle Liberation Front (SLF) called for protests in downtown Seattle. On February 17, over 2000 demonstrators carried on running battles with the police, breaking windows in the U.S. Courthouse and downtown businesses.

Seventy-five people were arrested; eight were indicted for conspiracy to cause damage to federal property. The highly politicized trial of seven of these, who became known as the Seattle Seven, resulted in a mistrial. While they served time for contempt of court, the conviction was later thrown out. During the legal proceedings, it became clear that the violence had been precipitated by FBI agents who had infiltrated the SLF.

This image shows Jeff Dowd (1949-), one of the Seattle seven, accompanied by Federal agents as he is brought to the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle for his arraignment in connection with the February riots. Years later, Dowd was the inspiration for the character of "The Dude" in the Coen brothers film "The Big Lebowski."

Caption information source: http://www.seattlestar.net/2014/11/the-seattle-seven
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.