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To capture the tension between opposing sides during these antiwar riots, the police stories are contrasted with the recollections of Mike Smith, lifelong social activist and one of the indicted organizers of the 1967 Stop the Draft Week demonstrations. Both Smith and several officers relate amusing tidbits about their experiences from the era. A healthy dose of humor helped to defuse tension, then as it does now.

The often lethal war with the Black Panthers was far more traumatic. The retired cops in the film describe a number of famous encounters from that conflict, including ambushes of police by the Panthers, the death of Officer John Frey in October 1967 for which Huey Newton was charged and tried, the shoot-out in which Eldridge Cleaver was wounded and Bobby Hutton was killed, and the notorious incident in September 1968, when two drunk officers drove by the Black Panther headquarters office and fired into the building.

The film reveals the multi-racial roots of today's Oakland Police Department, providing an inside look at how blacks and whites grappled with racial integration, and into the ambivalence of black officers during the department's war with the Black Panthers.

The Thursday Club is for anyone interested in the explosive social movements of the 1960s, whether they empathize with the protesters or the police, and whether they lived through the period or are learning about it for the first time. The film challenges stereotypical readings of the 1960s by giving a voice to the people behind the lingering image of the "fascist pig." Audiences will learn that some of the officers sympathized with those they faced on the street, and that in many cases, police professionalism and personal integrity resulted in remarkable restraint, preventing even greater violence.

At several points, the retired cops, and some active duty Oakland officers, weigh in on what police work is all about, describing their ideals and their fears. One section deals with the question of lethal force. There is philosophical back and forth in the discussion on violence until we get to two tragic stories in Hadwick Thompson's family: one of his sons is serving a life sentence for murdering a police officer, and the other, a former Oakland police officer, was badly wounded by a criminal on a rampage.

Produced and Directed by George Paul Csicsery

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