With a major strike of hop pickers in the offing, Ralph Durst headed to town to round up local authorities to put down the revolt. He gathered Yuba County District Attorney Edward Manwell (who was also his own lawyer), Marysville Sheriff George Voss, and a number of deputies. The sheriff and his men approached the speakers' platform to arrest Ford, who was addressing the assembly. Workers began to intervene on his behalf. Greatly outnumbered, one of the law enforcement officials fired a shotgun into the air in an effort to disperse the crowd. The shot provoked the opposite effect intended and many members of the crowd jumped on District Attorney Manwell and Deputy Sheriff Lee Anderson and began beating them.