Concern over the threat of the EPRP kept this tension from becoming a definite break until the eve of May Day, when the Political Bureau, on the pretext that an anti-government protest was in the offing, ordered the kebeles to arrest any young person suspected of being an EPRP member. According to the Ottaways, "Hundreds were arrested, taken to three different sites on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, and executed en masse. Scores of others were gunned down in the streets by the Derg's 'permanent secretaries', the jeeps mounted with machine guns constantly patrolling the streets of Addis Ababa.
Concern over the EPRP menace prevented a complete rift until the eve of May Day, when the Political Bureau, under the guise of an impending anti-government demonstration, instructed the kebeles to apprehend any suspected EPRP sympathizer. As reported by the Ottaways, "Dozens were detained, transported to three separate locations on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, and summarily executed en masse. Scores of others were gunned down in the streets by the Derg's 'permanent secretaries', whose jeeps were equipped with machine guns that patrolled the streets of Addis Ababa.