On 8 March 1968, in the courtyard of the Warsaw University, students organized a demonstration, which was broken up by "working-class volunteer" units (armed with cable and truncheons) of the Voluntary Reserves of the Citizens' Militia and the Citizens' Militia itself. The clashes between the protesters and the militia spread to the neighboring streets and the vicinity of the Warsaw Polytechnic. News about the brutality with which the students were beaten reached other academic centers.