Incident

Incident Description

On Saturday, January 8, Vice President Hubert Humphrey visited Buffalo and during his stay spoke at a banquet at the Statler Hilton commemorating one thousand years of Christianity in Poland. His presence in Buffalo prompted local peace groups, under the sponsorship of the Buffalo Youth Against War and Fascism, to hold a demonstration in front of the hotel aimed at highlighting their opposition to the war in Viet Nam and particularly their opposition to certain public statements Vice President Humphrey had made in connection with the war.

The demonstration had been in progress for over an hour when four of the demonstrators left the line and entered the hotel "just to warm up.” Daniel Katz, one of the four who went to warm up, was approached by Buffalo Detective Joseph A. Schwartz and was told to leave. A scuffle and ensued and Katz was arrested for "refusing to accede to the reasonable request of an officer."

Katz later complained of rough treatment at the hands of please, both in the hotel and on the way to the station, and stated that Schwartz, who is in plain clothes, never identified himself as an officer and that Katz had never been informed that he was under arrest.

Katz was charged with disorderly conduct and attempting to enter the elevator in which Vice President Humphrey was riding. The judge on the case later dismissed the later charge on the basis of contradictory testimony of the prosecution witness. However, the judge refused the motion by a defense attorney Richard Lipsitz for dismissal on the grounds of conflicting prosecution testimony.

When asked his reaction after the trial, Katz stated, "I feel that the actions of the arresting officers were an intimidations of the peace movement, the civil rights movement, and any other movement which actively dissents from the status quo."

Katz was convicted on January 27 and fined $25.