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Yippies Denied Bomb'g Permit

In their first dealing with the city of Detroit, under the heavy hand of newly-elected Mayor Roman S. Gribbs, the Youth International Party was denied a permit to demolish the General Motors Building. The Parkin’ Meter Yippies requested the permit “so as not to inconvenience anyone who might wish to be using the building.”

March 1, 1970

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Yippies Denied Bomb'g Permit

In their first dealing with the city of Detroit, under the heavy hand of newly-elected Mayor Roman S. Gribbs, the Youth International Party was denied a permit to demolish the General Motors Building. The Parkin’ Meter Yippies requested the permit “so as not to inconvenience anyone who might wish to be using the building.” Citing the many ecological, political and social offenses committed by General Motors on the peoples of the world, the Yippies respectfully requested the permit last Tuesday.

It was denied Thursday.

“Hell, grumbled Yippie Spokesman Jumpin’ Jack Flash, “it ain’t fair. You gotta be a corporation or a country to go around blowing shit up. I mean, G.M. is clogging up Amerika’s lungs, they’re keeping South Afrfca alive by squashing black people and they make crummy cars. They go around defying government orders. We don’t do that.”

A spokesman for the City Clerk’s office (who declined" to give his name) asked, “Who would want to do that.”

When told that the Yippies were interested, he replied, “How can they get a permit to do something as silly as that? Things like that are done On the sly.” _

Walking ‘out of the city clerk’s office, the Yippies looked glum.

“This destroys my last hope for legal channels,” spoke Jumpin’ Jack Flash, “I’ve been listening to Larry Carrino on channel 2 and he’s been telling kids to go through channels and finally we tried and look where it’s gotten us. They tell us to do it illegally.”

“Well, Amerika-Jumpin’ Jack said for the record, “you’ve pushed us over the edge. We WILL do it anyway. We’ll meet you on your turf with your ground rules, and we’ll do it illegally like you told us.”

The Yippies were planning the destruction of the G.M. building as a kind of kick-off for a spring celebration scheduled sometime in April. In order to have a festival of life, they reasoned, with typical Yippie logic: it is necessary to cut out the cancers that keep Amerika dying.

“You’ll understand, of course, that we would have obeyed all the clauses in our permit. They could have set a time, and had police protection for the bystanders who may, or may not, be innocent. This way, the city of Detroit has made enemeis out of us. We don’t like to hassle people, but being pushed into a corner like this is likely to make us into enraged animals fighting for survival.”