On August 29, 1970, Ruben Salazar attended an anti-war rally called by the National Chicano Moratorium. The rally attracted over 30,000 people to Laguna Park in East Los Angeles.

Salazar, a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and news director for the Spanish television station KMEX, was covering the event and was killed by a tear gas projectile fired by police.

To this day many people believe that Salazar was targeted by the FBI and LAPD for uncovering police abuses against Chicanos. Because no criminal investigation was carried out by the D.A.�s office and no charges were brought against the Sheriff�s deputy who fired the tear gas, Salazar�s death serves as a powerful symbol of police abuses against the Latino community.