White Night Riots (1979)

Mon May 21, 1979

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Image: Rioters on the San Francisco Civic Center plaza causing property damage during the White Night riots. Burning police cruisers are in the background. Photo credit to Daniel Nicoletta [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1979, the “White Night Riots” began in San Francisco after Harvey Milk’s assassin was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, the most lenient sentence possible. More than 160 people were hospitalized, including 60 cops.

Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay politicians in the U.S., and had been elected to serve as a city supervisor in San Francisco in 1977. On November 28th, 1978, Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone, were assassinated by former police officer and disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White.

On May 21st, 1979, Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, widely perceived to be the lightest possible sentence for his actions. His lawyers successfully argued that White was depressed, citing how much junk food he consumed. This was pejoratively dubbed the “Twinkie Defense”.

Following the announcement of White’s conviction, members of San Francisco’s gay community began marching in protest, starting at Castro Street and ending with more than 5,000 arriving at City Hall. Protesters shouted “Kill Dan White!” and “Dump Dianne!”, a reference to then Mayor Dianne Feinstein.

Some protesters began breaking City Hall windows, and the crowd was attacked by officers with night sticks. Protesters began setting police cruisers on fire. As one man ignited a cop car, he shouted to a reporter “Make sure you put in the paper that I ate too many Twinkies!” Sixty officers were injured and about two dozen arrests were made.

Later that evening, the police raided the predominantly gay Castro neighborhood, invading the Elephant Walk bar and brutalizing its occupants. Police entered the bar yelling slurs, shattering bar windows, and attacking patrons. Other officers outside indiscriminately attacked gays on the street.

The following day, Supervisor Harry Britt, who had replaced Milk, refused to apologize for the riot: “Harvey Milk’s people do not have anything to apologize for. Now the society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing salons, but as people capable of violence. We’re not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore.”

Just a few months after the White Night Riots, Dianne Feinstein was elected to a full term as San Francisco Mayor with some support from the gay community. One of her first actions in office was to appoint a new Chief of Police who oversaw the hiring of a more diverse police force. By 1980, one in seven new police recruits was queer.

“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”

- Harvey Milk