On May 8 in 1970, in lower Manhattan, hundreds of construction and office workers confront over 1000 anti-war demonstrators protesting the May 4 Kent State shootings and the Vietnam War. Construction workers carry US flags and chant "USA all the way!" Anti-war protesters shout "Peace now!" A riot breaks out. Soon, more than 20,000 people are in the streets, City Hall is under siege, and buildings on the Pace University campus are attacked. NYPD, being mostly sympathetic with the counter protestors, do little to stop the violence as construction workers use helmets and tools to beat anyone identifiable as a hippie. Hundreds are injured, and six people are arrested: five anti-war protestors and one construction worker. Impressed, President Nixon invites the leaders of the “hard hat riot” to D.C.