Today, March 28th, marks the 42nd anniversary of the infamous Collier Park Riot – the largest “disturbance” between the community and police in the history of Ocean Beach.
Hundreds of OBceans and students from area colleges were gathered on March 28, 1971, at a peaceful anti-Vietnam War protest that was combined with a community clean-up of a large corner lot for parkland when they were attacked by police. This unprovoked assault by police resulted in a riot that spread from Soto and Greene Streets all the way to the beach and lasted for hours into the night. Fifty people were arrested, many injured, a patrol car was burned, but over time, the wounds were healed, the war ended, and a park was created in northeast OB: Collier Park.
Here are a series of articles about the Collier Park Riot and what it meant for Ocean Beach. (Click on the headline links to the articles.)
Collier Park Riot Picnic, March 27th 2011
Why the Collier Park Riot in March 1971 Was a Watershed Event for Ocean Beach
Remember the Collier Park Riot! March 28, 1971
March 28th : Anniversary of the Infamous Collier Park Riot in Ocean Beach, 1971
Collier Park
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You could also argue that the popular resistance by OBcians when we stopped the jetty during the summer of 1970 was even larger than Collier Park and is actually “the largest community-police disturbance” in OB history. Just saying.
Respect to all the OB OGs that stopped the jetty back in the dizzay.
The jetty battle in the summer of 1970 attacked the Army Corps of Engineers plans to make the San Diego River channel like the LA River Channel. It was a surfer/ecology action battle. And they won. The Army Corps work was a prelude to turning OB into a Miami Beach, as envisioned by the Precise Plan. All the businesses in Mission Valley wanted it to reduce their insurance costs due to the possible flooding issues. And if I remember right, the Colonel in the LA Corps of Engineers office needed the San Diego project to get his Brigadier bars.