Stonewall 1969: Fighting in the streets
Lavender & red, part 68
By Leslie Feinberg
Published Jul 6, 2006 9:59 PM
http://www.workers.org/2006/us/lavender-red-68/ (http://www.workers.org/2006/us/lavender-red-68/)
Stonewall participant Martin Boyce recalled, "All of a sudden the whole street now had had it, and windows started cracking and people attacked cars and moved cars back and forth, but let the straight people out, who were in terror, really, but nobody hurt them, ever. It's amazing how controlled the rage was, even though it was so hard."
The police trapped inside the Stonewall Inn couldn't call for backup. Top cop Sey mour Pine, who led the raid on the Stonewall, later said: "Every time we tried to use the [police portable] radio to call for assistance, a message came back, 'Dis regard that call.' Somebody else apparently had our frequency in the crowd, and so we couldn't get a message through. The phone lines apparently were cut, because we couldn't use the phone."