The incident was sparked when police stopped a pair of students from NTU and Taipei Teachers 'College for riding double on a bicycle. When the students proved uncooperative, the police beat and detained them, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to mass arrests by the military police.
這次學潮肇因於台大、師院兩位學生共騎一輛單車、不服取締而遭警察毆打及拘留，不意事件越演越烈，數日後當局竟出動軍警鎮壓搜捕。