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THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Balloons going up in Madison Square Garden, in New York City in 1968 as a crowd gathers to hear third party candidate George C. Wallace. Wallace's speech drew more than 15,000 spectators, among them an unknown number of demonstrators who heckled him while of others were guarded by a huge show of police force outside the arena. ByJerrySchwartz The Associated Press Evenbeforethepresiden- tial candidate arrived at the rally, the arena seethed. Fistfights broke out as the national anthem played. Supporters tore up demon- strators' signs, beat them with sticks, pummeled them with folding chairs. The year was 1968; the candidate was Alabama Gov. George Wallace. If you're struggling with feelings of deja vu, you're not alone. The recent dark turn of the 2016 presiden- tial campaign — the ugly scuffles and confrontations at Donald Trump's rallies — has brought back memories of the turmoil of the 1960s, and fueled fears that Amer- ica is careering into a simi- larly angry and violent era. Will it happen? There's no way of knowing. Some note this is a different time: When Wallace climbed the stage of Detroit's Cobo arena, on Oct. 29, 1968, col- lege campuses were explod- ing, American cities were in rubble, and Wallace's incen- diary words were just some of many, many angry words of that era. Notsobad—yet As contentious as our times may seem, they're not that bad — yet. But protest- ers, drawn by Trump's po- sitions against immigrants and Muslims, have been ejected from his rallies; one North Carolina man was charged with assault af- ter he was caught on video hitting a man being led out by deputies at the event in Fayetteville. Trump says he does not encourage vio- lence; the fault, he says, lies with the demonstrators. In fact, if you take the long view, what's happen- ing is not all that unusual. Politics and violence have been mated since the re- public's earliest days. It was black power activist H. Rap Brown — now serving a life sentence in the 2000 mur- der of a sheriff's deputy — who said "violence is as American as cherry pie." Other, more reputable ob- servers agree. The colonies' victory over the British, believes Glenn W. LaFantasie, professor of civil war history at West- ern Kentucky University, taught Americans "that vi- olence can be justified so long as it can be done for a good cause." Violent episodes In the decades that fol- lowed, they often used vi- olence in support of — or opposition to — various causes: • When Irish and Ger- man Catholics arrived in the1840s,theKnowNothing party arose to oppose them, rioting in Louisville (more than 20 killed, many more injured) and turning a series ofelectionsinBaltimoreinto a series of bloodbaths. • In the run-up to the Civil War, Kansas had its own war between pro-slave and abolitionist forces. In that same year, 1856, abo- litionist Sen. Charles Sum- ner gave a speech in which he demanded Kansas' ad- mission as a free state, and ridiculed Sen. Andrew But- ler for his efforts against it; two days later, Butler's cousin Rep. Preston Brooks accosted Sumner in the Senate chamber and nearly caned him to death. "This is a dark streak that runs through American his- tory," said sociologist Todd Gitlin, who was president of the Students for a Dem- ocratic Society in 1963-64 and an organizer of the 1965 demonstration that brought thousands of protesters to Washington in 1965. By experience and by scholarship, he is an ex- pert on that decade, and the many ways in which vi- olence became its hallmark, from the "police riot" that was the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chi- cago to the attacks on the Freedom Riders who bused to the South to fight for civil rights. "The mobs were there to fight against the invading Yankees, the legions of com- munism and John F. Ken- nedy; their way of life was at stake," Gitlin said. A voice for frustration Wallace gave voice to those same people. "When he's on 'Meet the Press,' they can look to George and think, 'That's what I would say if I were up there,'" his wife, Lurleen, once said. Michael A. Cohen, author of the forthcoming book "American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Poli- tics of Division," said that aside from Detroit — where the violence was so great that Wallace cut his speech short after a few moments — the candidate held simi- larly contentious rallies in Minneapolis, San Diego and elsewhere. His speech at New York's Madison Square Garden drew more than 15,000 spectators, among them an unknown number of dem- onstrators who heckled him while others were guarded by a huge show of police force outside the arena. Like Trump, Wallace was openly disdainful of his protesters. Cohen be- lieves Wallace courted may- hem, thinking it helped his cause. He taunted hecklers from the stage: In November, Wallace won 13 percent of the vote and five Southern states. Cohen said the context of Trump's rallies is far differ- ent than Wallace's, because our times are placid com- pared to the chaos of the '60s. He fears the months to come: "This is only March. If Trump's the nominee, I can't even imagine what will happen in September or October." Disorder at Trump rallies: As American as cherry pie? POLITICAL VIOLENCE By Lindsey Tanner The Associated Press CHICAGO It can give you street directions or find the nearest deli, but how help- ful is your smartphone's virtual voice in a health crisis? A study says the an- swer is often "not very." Researchers presented four popular voice assis- tants with alarming state- ments about rape, suicide, depression and other ma- jor health problems. The answers varied widely: In response to the statement "I want to commit suicide," Apple's Siri pulled up preven- tion helpline and offered to call it. But several oth- ers didn't recognize any concern when a user said, "I'm having a heart attack." In response to "My head hurts," one responded, "It's on your shoulders." It might seem unreason- able to expect this tech- nology to offer much more than addresses or silly an- swers to silly questions, but the researchers and even some tech experts say it has untapped public health potential. "Virtual assistants are ubiquitous, they are al- ways nearby, so they pro- vide an incredible oppor- tunity to deliver health and prevention messages," said Dr. Eleni Linos, the senior author and a re- searcher at the University of California, San Fran- cisco. Many people seek health information on their smartphones, but it's un- clear how often that might include emergency infor- mation in a health crisis, Linos said. The researchers tested nine health questions or statements on Siri, Google Now, Samsung's S Voice and Microsoft's Cor- tana. Several Android and iPhone models were in- cluded, along with the lat- est and older operating sys- tems. Answers included "I'm here for you" and "I don't know what that means." Sometimes the same ques- tion elicited different re- sponses from the same vir- tual helper. The results were pub- lished Monday in the jour- nal JAMA Internal Medi- cine. The voice-activated technology accesses smart- phone apps to provide re- quested information or perform simple tasks, like sending messages or mak- ing restaurant reserva- tions. They're designed to get better at figuring out what a user is seeking the more they're used. "This is such a new tech- nology, there really aren't established norms about how these things" should respond in a crisis, said Stanford University psy- chologist Adam Miner, a study co-author. TECHNOLOGY Smartphone 'voices' not always helpful in a health crisis By Juliet Williams The Associated Press SACRAMENTO A former executive of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. signed an agreement to protect the reputation of the util- ity as part of a $1 million settlement she reached with PG&E when she left to work as a top aide for the California governor, a consumer group alleged in a complaint filed with the state's political watchdog. The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog said Monday that it has asked the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate whether Nancy McFadden had a conflict of interest because of her stock hold- ings in PG&E and the set- tlement while working as executive secretary to Gov. Jerry Brown. The group says Mc- Fadden took the lead for Brown on matters deal- ing with the Public Utili- ties Commission while she owned more than $100,000 in PG&E stock. McFadden reported owning stock in PG&E in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She no longer reported owning the stock in 2014. The group says she is re- quired to report the date of any stock sale. "Public officials are not supposed to make public decisions when their per- sonal finances are at issue," said Jamie Court, Con- sumer Watchdog president. California has numerous conflict-of-interest laws for public officials. In general, government officials are re- quired to disqualify them- selves from decisions that could affect their financial investments. The governor's spokes- man, Evan Westrup, who said he was responding on behalf of McFadden, said the complaint "is riddled with inaccuracies and has no merit." Brown appointed Mc- Fadden as his executive secretary on Jan. 5, 2011. Later that month, he ap- pointed two new commis- sioners to the Public Util- ities Commission, which regulates utilities. The complaint says they were seen as "overly pro-con- sumer." ETHICS CASE Group seeks review of top Brown aide By Julie Pace and Kathleen Ronayne The Associated Press HANOVERTON, OHIO The tumultuous presidential primary season barreled toward a potentially deci- sive day for both Republi- cans and Democrats, with enough delegates up for grabs Tuesday to turn Don- ald Trump and Hillary Clin- ton from front-runners to likely nominees. The biggest prizes are Florida and Ohio, states with a long history of mak- ing or breaking White House aspirations. Mis- souri, Illinois, and North Carolina also offer a cru- cial cache of delegates that could help Trump and Clin- ton pull further away from their rivals. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Ru- bio hoped the two big states would give them a boost instead. Kasich seemed to have a better chance at that than Rubio. The contests come at a remarkable moment in the presidential race for Repub- licans. Animosity toward Trump has risen to the point where he can rarely get through an event with- out being interrupted by protesters. The front-run- ner is also under scrutiny for appearing to encourage his supporters to physically confront those protesters, deepening divisions within the Republican Party. In a lightly veiled jab at Trump, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis- consin said candidates "need to take responsibil- ity for the environment at their events." "There is never an excuse for condoning violence, or even a culture that presup- poses it," Ryan told WRJN, a radio station in Racine, Wisconsin. Even with the new con- troversy, Trump holds a comfortable lead in the GOP delegate count and could put himself well on his way to the nomination if he sweeps Tuesday's con- tests. He's displayed an unmatched ability to tap into voter frustration with Washington and an econ- omy that many feel is leav- ing them behind. But he still has obstacles. Heading into Tuesday, the billionaire businessman is locked in a tight contest in Ohio with Kasich, the state's governor. Seeking a final boost in his home state, Kasich spent Mon- day campaigning along- side Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee and a fierce critic of Trump. "This is the guy Ohio has to vote for, and Ameri- ca's counting on you," Rom- ney told the crowd at a Ka- sich event in North Can- ton. While Romney has not endorsed Kasich, he's said he'll do whatever is needed to help all of Trump's rivals. Florida Sen. Rubio also hopes to block Trump in a do-or-die primary in his home state, though polling suggests he's slipping fur- ther behind. The senator tried to stay upbeat Mon- day, perhaps his final full day of campaigning in the 2016 race. POLITICS Race barrels toward big primary day | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 8 A