The Olympic games took place in Mexico City at a time of great social and political upheaval. The United States was fully entrenched in the Vietnam War. Inspirational public figures Martin Luther King, Jr. and US Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy (brother of slain former President John F. Kennedy) had recently been assassinated. Within Mexico itself, the country faced many social and economic hardships aggravated by the nation's extravagant spending to host the games. Tens of thousands of Mexican students used the Olympics as an international platform to demonstrate their grievances and portest injustice in Mexico. In response, the police and the military resulted to brutal tactics to silence them. The violence culminated on 2 October 1968 when hundreds of students died in an unprovoked attack.