Today is Saturday, May 23rd, 2020.

On this day in 1934, a five-day standoff began.

Thirteen hundred Ohio National Guard troops

faced down 6,000 striking autoworkers and unemployed civilians in Toledo, Ohio.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original. Due to the graphic nature of

today's crimes, listener discretion is advised. Today we're covering the

boiling point of the Auto Light Workers Strike in Toledo, Ohio,

when more than 6,000 employees engaged in a deadly five-day clash

with the state's National Guard.

Let's go back to the Midwestern city of Toledo

during the throes of the Great Depression on May 23rd, 1934.

Spring in Toledo was brisk, never mind that it was already May. The chilling winds of the morning whipped at the

backs of the men standing outside the downtown factory. They tugged their

collars just a little bit higher. Many were members of the American Federation of

Labor and a good portion had been longtime employees of the Electric Auto Light

plant. That was until they'd staged a walk out nearly a month before.

The hope was that without them there'd be no more factory production,

no more Glass City as Toledo had come to be known. more factory

had come to be known. Even some of their colleagues from neighboring factories

had declined to go to work

in favor of joining the auto light workers strike.

Their demands were clear, more money, and better working conditions.

...