On 15 May 1990, only eleven days after the adoption of the 4 May Declaration of Independence, supporters of Interfront – including Soviet Army soldiers, officers and cadets in civilian clothes – attempted to break into the building of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia on Jēkaba Street. The attack failed, but it became a clear warning that the restoration of independence would have to be defended not only in parliamentary votes, but also physically – through people’s readiness to protect state institutions.

This event belongs to the tense phase of the Third Awakening, when Latvia’s institutions had already declared the restoration of independence, while Soviet power structures and their supporters tried to retain control. The 15 May attack was later remembered as one of the precursors to the barricades.