A huge crowd gathered to watch the parade.

Mayor Gray, informed by panicked officials that the situation in front of city hall was “out of control,” ordered the Royal North West Mounted Police and the military onto the streets. At 2:30 pm, 54 police on horses and 36 men in trucks lined up on Main Street facing north at Portage Avenue. Meanwhile, a streetcar drove south from north Main Street toward the crowds. Demonstrators believed the streetcar was driven by Citizens’ Committee volunteers. The crowd shoved the streetcar off its tracks, broke its windows and set it on fire.

The police walked their horses north on Main Street from Portage Avenue. They wore their distinctive red uniforms, but a few riders near the end of the troop wore army uniforms. The appearance of these soldiers enraged pro-strike veterans who jeered and booed them. The police turned around near city hall and headed south on Main towards their starting point. They were pelted with rocks and bricks. <--caption--> Mayor Gray read the Riot Act and ordered the streets cleared in half an hour.

The police then rode north and charged back south again with their clubs in hand. A third police charge followed quickly upon the second. This time the police had clubs in one hand and revolvers in the other. The crowd stood back to let the police pass. But the police unexpectedly turned into the crowd at the corner of Main Street and William Avenue. Shots were fired. Several people fell wounded. An elderly bystander, Steve Schezerbanowes, was hit by police bullets. He died later from his wounds. The police brigade continued around behind city hall to re-emerge on Main Street at James Avenue. They headed south again on Main Street with revolvers still drawn. Mike Sokolowiski (Sokolowski), who the police claimed was throwing a brick, was shot and killed.

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Two hundred “Special Police” emerged from the Rupert Street Police Station to cordon off Main Street. <--caption--> The fleeing crowds sought refuge in backstreets and alleys.

“Specials” pursued them. In the alley between Market Avenue and James Avenue, the undisciplined “Specials” cornered several hundred men, women, and children and attacked them with batons and other weapons. The crowd defended itself with bricks, bottles, and their bare fists. In ten minutes, 27 people were injured. The police, military and “Specials” proceeded to patrol downtown streets.

* Strike Bulletin, June 23, 1919