NJ Mayors Rages as Veteran Nabbed in Raids
Faced with the sight of a veteran being taken away in handcuffs during an early morning raid in his hometown, Mayor Richard Johnson became furious, slamming his fist on the kitchen table. The year was 1967, and the timing couldn’t have been worse, coming as it did during a time of escalating social unrest in America. Earlier that year, the Protests at Kent State had topped national headlines, and the mood of the nation was tense and hostile.
The scene unfolded at around 5:00 a.m. on a chilly spring morning, in a quiet New Jersey neighborhood, where shadows of nearby buildings threatened to envelop the entire scene. Frank Evans, a 24-year-old Army veteran, had just been hauled away in the darkness by local police, his screams and outbursts ringing out eerily amidst the calm morning air. Evans, it transpired, had been under investigation for weeks for his part in the anti-war movement, his words freely uttered across the nation to the millions who saw war as an anathema.
The undeterred Mayor Johnson stormed out into the chilly air, rage coiled in every fiber of his being. His question, now thundered, resounded, too: “How could this have happened? How could a patriot be treated so callously in his own home?” However, Michael Allen, the Director of Public Safety, glanced warily about, evasive eyes never leaving Johnson’s as, still quivering, he murmured: “Sir, he’s a veteran. He’s a deserter, checkered in a jacket that can only bring domestic exigency.”