"Strange Rumblings in Aztlan" is an article published in ''
Rolling Stone'' #81, dated April 29, 1971, and written by
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...
.
The article takes its title from the city of
Aztlán, the ancestral home of the
Aztec people, but generally refers to the "conquered territories" of Mexico that came under United States control after the
Mexican–American War. The territory covered parts of modern-day
Texas,
Arizona,
New Mexico, and
California.
Background
The subject of the article is primarily the events and atmosphere surrounding the reaction of the
Chicano community in Los Angeles to the killing of
Rubén Salazar on August 29, 1970, the day of the historic
National Chicano Moratorium March and rally against the
Vietnam War. Salazar was covering the day's events as a columnist for the ''
Los Angeles Times'' and news director of Los Angeles Spanish-language station
KMEX-TV. After the conclusion of the march, while sipping a beer at the counter of the Silver Dollar Cafe, Salazar was hit in the head by a
tear gas shell fired by
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
sheriff's deputy
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
Tom Wilson. The day's almost entirely nonviolent nature had turned suddenly violent due to the decision of police to clear Laguna Park (now renamed
Ruben F. Salazar Park) of the 20,000 to 30,000 people attending a post-march rally.
Though marginally involved in the nascent Chicano civil rights movement of the time, Salazar became a martyr to the community when the details surrounding his death became public. Thompson's report on the situation focuses largely on this history of the violence and repression that haunted the ''
barrio
''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
'' neighborhoods of Los Angeles during this period. The article lays out a timeline of events preceding and following Salazar's death. Of primary concern is the reaction of the sheriff's department and what many saw as a cover-up for a deliberate murder. Over the course of the reporting it becomes increasingly clear that the official stories offered to explain the shooting contradict eyewitness, and eventually, previous 'official' versions of the event.
The article is also of note for the appearance of
Oscar Zeta Acosta, an acquaintance and "sometimes antagonist" of Thompson's at the time. It was during his reporting for the Salazar story that Thompson and Acosta took a road trip to
Las Vegas in order to escape the pressure of Los Angeles and to find a place where Acosta could discuss the case openly, without fear of retaliation from either the police or Chicanos who might see him as cooperating with
the Establishment. The road trip to Vegas became the basis for Thompson's book ''
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'', with Acosta serving as the inspiration for the novel's Dr. Gonzo.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Rumblings In Aztlan
Magazine articles by Hunter S. Thompson
1971 documents
Rolling Stone articles
Hispanic and Latino American history of California