Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World Highlight

In early May, the longshoremen closed the port of San Francisco; by the end of June, the city’s leaders and employers had had enough. On July 5, 1934, the bosses tried to break the picket under the guns of the city police and the National Guard, which Governor Frank Merriam called in. Open warfare erupted on the waterfront. Ignoring the informal rules of a picket fight, police attacked union headquarters, drenching the Embarcadero in tear gas. One policeman fired into the crowd, killing strikers Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise.