Protest and counter-protest?

I’m having an interesting day today. I’m really busy, I need to have a short piece of writing finished by tomorrow, and we just located a potential treasure trove of materials related to various building projects. But what has my attention for the moment is a big stack of very good photos we just received from an alum in the class of 1973. There are a lot of nice ones, but I found these the most intriguing. Click on them for a closer look. On one side we have a group with a big banner that claims “He Got What He Deserved.” The other side insists that there will be “No retreat until redress.” I don’t know what year this is (69-71?), but it’s winter (barren trees, grey skies, students in coats).

I think this one was taken on the same day–barren trees, grey skies, etc–but I’m not certain. And I really don’t know what’s going on here. There are some other pictures, by the way, that suggest there may have been a minor brawl. I’m just not sure. Anyone have any thoughts?

Update: A reader has floated the idea that this might be a theatrical production of some sort. This is an interesting idea. That does seem to be George Grenias with the bullhorn and it would explain the pictures of fighting that also have people smiling in them.

Update II: Mystery solved! Just by chance, Doug Killgore (class of ’69) is coming over to the Woodson this morning to pull some photos for the celebration of the centennial of the laying of the Lovett Hall cornerstone on March 7th. I asked him about these pictures and sure enough, they are behind-the-scene shots of the filming of his 1970 movie “Grigsby G.”