Vol. 80/No. 12      March 28, 2016

 

25, 50, and 75 Years Ago

 

March 29, 1991

LOS ANGELES — Four of 15 cops involved in the brutal beating of construction worker Rodney King have been arrested and indicted on felony assault charges. The grand jury that handed down the indictments is still taking testimony and considering further charges.

The indictments are a result of the nationwide outcry and protests here after millions saw a videotaped recording of King being savagely kicked, clubbed more than 50 times by baton-wielding cops, and shocked with a stun gun March 3.

King is still hospitalized.

Many protesters are demanding Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates be fired. Notorious for racist statements against Blacks, Latinos, and immigrant workers, Gates has refused to step down.

March 28, 1966

With the Vietnam war escalating steadily, the American people must face the issue of what they have been dragged into. Even the heaviest propaganda barrage can no longer conceal the fact that U.S. armed forces are waging a genocidal war against the great mass of the people of Vietnam — a people whose sympathy and support are clearly with the guerrilla forces that the U.S. government is so determined to crush.

It is precisely because the people are with the guerrillas that the U.S. has been compelled to steadily increase its commitment. The Saigon government cannot find sufficient soldiers willing to fight and die for its tyrannical dictatorship. In sharp contrast, the guerrilla fighters of the National Liberation Front have shown a remarkable capacity for waging an effective fight against a force with far superior military resources.

March 29, 1941

With the publication, in Moscow and Ankara, of a declaration pledging “full neutrality and understanding” on the part of Moscow towards Turkey in case of an attack by Hitler against Turkey, Stalin, for the second time in the period of one month, has openly indicated fear of and hostility to Hitler’s activities in the Balkans.

Stalin’s previous move came in the form of a note to Bulgaria in which the Kremlin chided the Bulgarian government for permitting German occupation, and predicted it would lead to extension of the war and not, as claimed by the German and Bulgarian governments, lead to peace in the Balkans.

Should Hitler’s armies succeed in gaining control of the Dardanelles, the only all-year-round outlet of the Soviet Union to the outside world would be in the hands of a powerful enemy.  
 
 
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