It was a 4th of July 1973 in San Francisco's gritty tenderloin neighborhood.

To celebrate Independence Day, a group of teens set off fireworks in a parking lot near the

Helping Hands Community Center.

Reverend Ray Broshiers had founded that center just a few years earlier in 1969,

primarily to help young members of the gay community who had been driven to unsafe

conditions. Browshaes himself was kind of a brash character and he had no

problem rubbing people the wrong way.

So when this happened, he was frustrated with the rowdy teens

and he called the cops.

But when the police arrived,

instead of helping, they told the kids who had routed them out.

Later that night, when 38-year-old brochures was closing up shop, the teens took their revenge.

As brochures walked down the sidewalk,

he was surrounded by a group of about a dozen teams

and they attacked.

Broshiers was punched in the back of the head and then hitting a groin.

He fell to the ground, but they didn't stop.

They were still punching him and kicking him as they dragged him off the sidewalk and into the street.

When a bus driver saw what was happening, the kids finally cleared out.

Broshers was left injured. He'd been pummeled until he'd lost consciousness.

He was covered in bruises. He had a badly injured arm and he had blood coming from

his nose. While he's recovering from his beating,

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