Jacob Coxey's Army of 500 unemployed citizens marched on Washington D.C. to protest a crippling 1894 depression. Though they failed, they set a national precedent that lasts to this day.

In 1936, New York congressman Nathan Perlman asked Jewish mob boss Meyer Lansky to intimidate Nazi sympathizers across the city. The mafioso even did it for free.

FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover himself orchestrated the hit alongside Chicago police to silence the 21-year-old activist's fight for justice in his community.

During the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz, Native American demonstrators took control of the former prison in protest of government abuses.

“If you strike at them they will all turn on you and devour you and your women and little children,” the Dakota chief warned before the uprising that led to the slaughter. He was right.