This week in History: Haymarket Affair

This week in...1886 - May 4, 1886: May 4 has historically been a day of anarchy and violent protests with the Kent State Massacre and the Haymarket Riot nearly 100 years prior in Chicago. As violent and unjust as the Kent State Massacre had been, they Haymarket Affair was possibly the worst carriage of justice in American history.
The relationship between labor and management was at an all-time low across the county and Chicago was no exception. A number of protests had occurred in the days prior to May 4 with Chicago workers including the ones in the stockyards preaching for the eight-hour work day.
Led by anarchist August Spies, the radicals gathered on May 4 at Haymarket Square on Desplaines Street to stage another rally. At first, it appeared peaceful. In fact, Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison was at the event and left after awhile after telling police not to disrupt the "tame" meeting.
But 178 policemen came anyway and ordered the crowd to disperse after the Mayor left. When confronted, one of the protesters threw a bomb that exploded near the officers. The officers in turn immediately opened fire. Eight died, mostly from their own gunfire. As many as ten civilians were killed.
Even though the person who threw the bomb was never captured, eight people were charged with the act. The citizens couldn't imagine not charging anyone with the act. Four of the eight were hung in the Cook County Jail the following year and one committed suicide. The remaining three were pardoned in 1893. The pardoning ruined the career of Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld.
Most of the people that were charged and killed because one person threw the bomb were peaceful protesters. Over time, people realized the state was out of line for charging so many people just on loose belief, especially when it is clear that one person threw the bomb.