Times columnist dies in rioting

Aug. 29, 1970: Times columnist Ruben Salazar was killed and dozens of others were injured when an East Los Angeles parade and rally to demonstrate Latino opposition to the Vietnam War turned into rioting after clashes between officers and protesters.

During the rioting, sheriff’s deputies surrounded the Silver Dollar Cafe on Whittier Boulevard after receiving reports of a man carrying a gun inside, The Times reported.

After ordering the building evacuated, “tear gas -- but no bullets -- was fired inside, deputies said, and two men, a woman and a child left the building through a back door.”

“At 5:30 p.m., nearly two hours later, deputies in the area were approached by a man who said, ‘I think there’s somebody in the bar.’ It was Mr. Salazar,” the newspaper said.

Deputies found him sprawled on the floor, with “a bullet wound in the head,” according to The Times. It was later determined that Salazar, “one of the city’s leading spokesmen for Chicano rights,” died after being struck by a deputy’s tear gas canister.

The parade and rally had been called “in support of a National Chicano Moratorium, which, its leaders said, was an effort to urge young Chicanos to resist military service abroad in favor of fighting for social justice at home.”