On May 1, 1970, protests erupted in Seattle following the announcement by President Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country. The focus of protest activity was the University of Washington, but anti-war protests and disruptions also swept downtown. The 1970 UW student strike would continue throughout the month of May. Student strikers dominated the campus radio station and newspaper, and Seattle police were accused of using excessive force.

In this image, Seattle City Council Member and Acting Mayor Charles M. Carroll (1907-1985) addresses a crowd of about 10,000 demonstrators outside City Hall on Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle. The largely non-violent demonstration was held on a second consecutive day to pressure Mayor Wes Uhlman (who was in Japan at the time) to declare May 8 a day of mourning for the four Kent State students killed by the National Guard on May 4, and to give city employees the day off without loss of pay.

Caption information source: The Seattle Times, May 7, 1970, page 1
Caption information source: "Weeks of protests erupt in Seattle, beginning on May 1, 1970, against U.S. entry into Cambodia and later also to protest the killing of four Kent State students," by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2308
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.