In Los Angeles in 1967, tensions are high between the LAPD and multiple demographics, from black people (the Watts Uprising was 2 years earlier), to LGBT folks (police frequently raid gay bars), to anti-war demonstrators (the Vietnam War is being escalated).

On June 23, President Johnson is in town, hosting a fundraiser at a hotel for his reelection campaign.

10,000 anti-war demonstrators — far more than organizers or police anticipated — fill the Avenue of the Stars and march to the hotel, where they are met by baton-wielding police officers. Acting on disputed claims from undercover agents of an imminent attack on the hotel, the police disperse the crowd with violence, bloodying and injuring over 50 people.

The LAPD faces no consequences. The event stokes militarization on both sides.