‘One-man riot’ protests city fees

Nov. 21, 1930: A Los Angeles City Council appeals hearing over an assessment for paving Avenue 45 “swiftly turned into a one-man riot” when, “a protesting property owner” named Hugh Hoffman “roared defiance right and left before he was ejected,” The Times reported.

“Hoffman said he would prefer Al Capone as the governing force of Los Angeles, because, he said, Capone fights out in the open with guns,” the newspaper said.

Hoffman “shouted that he did not ask for the improvement and had been given no opportunity to protest. The city government, he said, is arranging matters so the property owners can have a large bundle of tax receipts to carry to the poorhouse.”