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HAYMARKET
RIOT
A violent confrontation between strikers and
police at McCormick Reaper Works, an
industrial plant in Chicago, on May 3, 1886.
During the fighting, some police and
protesters were injured by gunfire. The
event led German-born anarchist labor
leaders to call for a protest rally the
following day, during which more workers
gathered at Haymarket Square to express
their disapproval of the violence the
previous day. As police again arrived and
attempted to disperse the crowd an unknown
person threw a bomb which killed seven
officers and injured many other policemen
and bystanders. Eight anarchists were
arrested for the crime, seven of whom were
sentenced to death and one to life in
prison. By 1887, four of those convicted
were hanged, one had committed suicide and
two of the remaining three were given
reduced prison terms. In 1893 the three
remaining men were pardoned and released by
Illinois governor John P. Altgeld who
claimed there was not enough evidence to
connect them to the crime.
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