Washington ~50 years ago was a different place than it is now.
We used to go there on elementary school class trips.
@Smokin Joe @DCPatriot All of America was a different place back then. Most people,even elected officials seemed to have some common sense back then.
BTW,I don't know how old you are,but don't believe everything you read about the hippies in the 60's. The old saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" was true. I hit San Francisco for the first time in 1966,wearing a Green Beret and army dress greens.
Even walking down Market Street I had not one minute of trouble with anyone. I did have some genuine hippies stop me and ask me questions about the VN War,but they were respectful,asked serious questions,and then offered me a place to stay with them for free while I was there. The "head hippie" was a really tall,skinny black guy and I not only ran into him again when I returned to the US in 68,but he remembered me and called me by name with a smile and a hug,and warned me to avoid the downtown area where the war protesters were rioting while I was in uniform. He didn't seem to like those people any better than I did. Stayed with him and his friends for a couple of days before coming back east. Never a minute of trouble with any of them.
It was easy to see what was really going on if you went to someplace like Market Street,and just watched what was going on. You would see expensive cars dropping off late teen girls and boys dressed like hippies,and they would hit the streets "playing the role" until mom or dad returned to pick them up later. THESE and the privileged college kids scared of getting drafted were the ones raising all the hell. The posers LOVED getting on the tv cameras,and the college punks were just afraid of the draft. Don't believe it? ALL the big war protests,especially by college kids on campuses stopped when the draft ended. That wasn't a coincidence.
Just like with any other crowd,it only takes a handful to give them all a bad name.
