https://dangerousminds.net/comments/john_lennon_and_the_peoples_park_riots_a_remembrance

Of all the harebrained causes John Lennon got behind...

On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 5:15:56 AM UTC-7, Norbert K wrote:
> https://dangerousminds.net/comments/john_lennon_and_the_peoples_park_riots_a_remembrance
>
> Of all the harebrained causes John Lennon got behind...

Here's the backstory: The University of California had purchased a few acres of land a couple blocks south of the main Berkeley campus. In 1968, nothing had been done on the site, and it became a hangout to the area's homeless and druggies. In 1969, with the support of some students, these people decided that the area didn't really belong to anyone (except maybe themselves) and declared their intention of "letting a thousand parks bloom." This was in echo of Chairman Mao's purported desire to "let a thousand flowers bloom."

Nearby residents, who were unhappy with the round-the-clock bonfires, drug use, bongo-playing and public sex in the so-called park got the police involved. The hippies resisted the police. Then-governor Reagan got the national guard involved, one of the hippies was killed, and the so-called Peoples' Park Protests gained national attention.. The mess went on for years, and eventually the university gave in and allowed the property to be turned into a public park. It is, to this day, inhabited mostly by homeless people and drug salesmen & users and is best avoided at night.

On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 8:21:53 AM UTC-7, Norbert K wrote:
> On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 5:15:56 AM UTC-7, Norbert K wrote:
> > https://dangerousminds.net/comments/john_lennon_and_the_peoples_park_riots_a_remembrance
> >
> > Of all the harebrained causes John Lennon got behind...
> Here's the backstory: The University of California had purchased a few acres of land a couple blocks south of the main Berkeley campus. In 1968, nothing had been done on the site, and it became a hangout to the area's homeless and druggies. In 1969, with the support of some students, these people decided that the area didn't really belong to anyone (except maybe themselves) and declared their intention of "letting a thousand parks bloom." This was in echo of Chairman Mao's purported desire to "let a thousand flowers bloom."
>
> Nearby residents, who were unhappy with the round-the-clock bonfires, drug use, bongo-playing and public sex in the so-called park got the police involved. The hippies resisted the police. Then-governor Reagan got the national guard involved, one of the hippies was killed, and the so-called Peoples' Park Protests gained national attention.. The mess went on for years, and eventually the university gave in and allowed the property to be turned into a public park. It is, to this day, inhabited mostly by homeless people and drug salesmen & users and is best avoided at night.

BTW, as far as I can find out, it was during this mess that the hippies began to refer to law enforcement as "blue meanies."

The Zodiac Killer embraced the term, though in his previous communications ("I shall state some facts which only I & the police know) he had no attitude towards them one way or the other.