40 years ago: Outburst by Jerry Rubin on the David Frost show under investigation

From the Lawrence Journal-World on Nov. 9, 1970:

  • Officials at the 313th Tactical Airlift Wing stationed at Forbes Air Force Base announced new low-level flying routes over eastern Kansas, including Lawrence. Saying that the flights were an essential part of normal combat training, the officials said that certain noise-sensitive areas would be avoided, such as hospitals, population centers, wildlife refuge areas, and dense air-traffic areas such as airports.
  • A recent outbreak on the David Frost show, which was witnessed by an estimated 17 million viewers worldwide, was under investigation in England. Frost had been interviewing Jerry Rubin, a defendant at the Chicago conspiracy trial that had occurred after the 1968 Democratic Convention riots. After Rubin said that money should be abolished, Frost asked him why he had tried to obtain double the $240 fee usually paid to the show’s guests. “To buy bombs to blow you up,” Rubin had responded. About 20 of Rubin’s followers had then knocked over TV cameras, shouted profanities, and drenched the host with a water pistol. Frost was quoted as saying that although he enjoyed the unexpectedness of live television, the incident had “turned out as the most powerful commercial ever for law and order.'”