Not About Tiddly-Dee nor Tiddly-Dum
They don't have permits to demonstrate, and they don't want them.
"We don't ask for permission," said John Flannigan, a member of the A31 Coalition, the anarchist group so named for the dozens of protests it has organized for today, Aug. 31.
The protests are not about ousting George W. Bush or promoting John Kerry. For the organizers, today's plans of direct action and civil disobedience across the city are about challenging the nature of modern politics.
"We feel permits are part of the problem here," said A31 member Eric Laursen. "We're challenging a system that requires you to get a permit in order to speak your mind."
Among some of the events the anarchists are planning for today are actions at the Manhattan office sites of companies that the group feels have benefited from the war, such as the Carlyle Group, Rand Corporation, Hummer and Chevron. In addition, people who want to join the group's events are invited to meet up at 4 p.m. at Union Square.
Anarchists bristle at the idea of regimented authority and have been loosely banded to exchange ideas and plans, so it's unclear exactly what could happen Tuesday.
In preparation for the convention, anarchists have met in coffee shops and art lofts, churches and Internet cafes for more than a year planning a spectrum of action -- everything from street theater, die-ins and teach-ins to a convergence on the Garden and disruption of RNC events.
One action will remain a secret until moments before its execution. Anarchists will text message one another when the location is determined.
"As many people as there are in the street, there are going to be that many different kinds of civil disobedience," Flannigan said. Police officials say that, as with earlier protests, officers will not engage protesters unless they have to and do not want to create conflict where it's not necessary.
"We're aware of them and we have appropriate measures in place as part of the overall security plan," a police spokesman said.
A police source was more blunt.
"If they do bad things we're going to stop them," the source said.
Laursen recognizes confrontation may be inevitable. But he hopes the din of conflicts and arrests does not drown out A31's central message.
"This is part of building a movement," he said. "It shows people that you can take charge of your own dissent. You don't have to let a politician speak for you."
DARYL KHAN
Staff Writer
August 30, 2004, 8:30 PM EDT
"We don't ask for permission," said John Flannigan, a member of the A31 Coalition, the anarchist group so named for the dozens of protests it has organized for today, Aug. 31.
The protests are not about ousting George W. Bush or promoting John Kerry. For the organizers, today's plans of direct action and civil disobedience across the city are about challenging the nature of modern politics.
"We feel permits are part of the problem here," said A31 member Eric Laursen. "We're challenging a system that requires you to get a permit in order to speak your mind."
Among some of the events the anarchists are planning for today are actions at the Manhattan office sites of companies that the group feels have benefited from the war, such as the Carlyle Group, Rand Corporation, Hummer and Chevron. In addition, people who want to join the group's events are invited to meet up at 4 p.m. at Union Square.
Anarchists bristle at the idea of regimented authority and have been loosely banded to exchange ideas and plans, so it's unclear exactly what could happen Tuesday.
In preparation for the convention, anarchists have met in coffee shops and art lofts, churches and Internet cafes for more than a year planning a spectrum of action -- everything from street theater, die-ins and teach-ins to a convergence on the Garden and disruption of RNC events.
One action will remain a secret until moments before its execution. Anarchists will text message one another when the location is determined.
"As many people as there are in the street, there are going to be that many different kinds of civil disobedience," Flannigan said. Police officials say that, as with earlier protests, officers will not engage protesters unless they have to and do not want to create conflict where it's not necessary.
"We're aware of them and we have appropriate measures in place as part of the overall security plan," a police spokesman said.
A police source was more blunt.
"If they do bad things we're going to stop them," the source said.
Laursen recognizes confrontation may be inevitable. But he hopes the din of conflicts and arrests does not drown out A31's central message.
"This is part of building a movement," he said. "It shows people that you can take charge of your own dissent. You don't have to let a politician speak for you."
DARYL KHAN
Staff Writer
August 30, 2004, 8:30 PM EDT
posted by R7 | 8/31/2004 11:45:00 AM
2 Comments:
Protesters' Encounters With Delegates on the Town Turn Ugly
Outside a hotel in Times Square, delegates to the Republican National Convention were swarmed by protesters dressed in black and swearing at them. Blocks away, delegates engaged in shoving matches with protesters seeking to spoil their night at the theater. And outside "The Lion King" on 42nd Street, a delegate was punched by a protester who ran by.
Although the organized protests yesterday and Sunday have been largely peaceful, there has been a starkly different tone to smaller incidents in Midtown and elsewhere: angry encounters and planned harassment of convention delegates as they go out on the town.
Sometimes the delegates answer back in toe-to-toe, finger-pointing shouting matches. Other times the police, who are guarding delegate gatherings, have dispersed protesters, who move on to other locations to taunt other delegates.
The harassment of delegates came as organized protests continued to draw thousands of people. The Still We Rise march by advocates for social issues was peaceful, and a Poor People's March, a column several blocks long, proceeded from the United Nations to the Madison Square Garden yesterday after the police decided to let it go ahead without a permit.
When marchers approached the Garden, a police detective was knocked off his scooter. He was then repeatedly kicked and punched in the head by at least one male demonstrator, the police said.
The detective, William Sample, was listed in serious condition at St. Vincent's Manhattan Hospital, where Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly both visited him, the police said. There was no immediate word of an arrest in the assault, but as of 9 p.m., the police said there had been 11 protest-related arrests.
The heavy police presence at the Garden apparently inspired the coordinated plan by anarchists and other radicals to strike out at the delegates at their hotels, breakfasts, parties, and on the streets.
The incidents are the result of months of planning by opposition groups, who report that they have obtained copies of plans and addresses for delegates' parties, caucuses and other gatherings outside the Garden.
Their efforts are aided by a support network that uses cellphone text messaging. Text message was also used extensively in a bike protest on Friday night and during demonstrations in Times Square on Sunday.
"CT delegation breakfast everyday @ Maison (7th ave & 53rd) from 7-8:30. Can we get some dissenters?" said one text message yesterday, apparently referring to the Connecticut delegation's plan to gather at a Midtown restaurant. "Maison has outdoor buffet. It would be direct contact with delegates."
One Internet discussion list used by protesters posted an advisory about where some delegate buses would be idling in Midtown every morning. Another message included phone numbers and e-mail addresses for convention officials and advised that delegate hotels would be busiest in the morning and evening.
The police are bracing for another round of unsanctioned demonstrations today, which protesters have designated a day of "nonviolent civil disobedience and direct action." Among the parties expected to be a target is the Tennessee delegation's gathering at Sotheby's. A group calling itself the Man in Black Bloc plans to protest it, saying it is angered that the convention intends to honor the late country singer Johnny Cash.
Yesterday, Jamie Moran, who lives in Brooklyn and describes himself as an anarchist and helps direct the rncnotwelcome.org Web site, was roaming Times Square with a band of protesters shouting at delegates. "These people are in a bubble," he said. "This is absolutely better than standing outside the Garden and shouting to let them know they are not welcome here."
As delegate buses arrived at the Garden yesterday afternoon, protesters who had gathered for a demonstration screamed obscenities and gestured rudely at them. When the police spotted Pete Coors, a Republican candidate for Senate from Colorado, walking near the group, they swiftly steered him away
Clearly, the protesters were not deterred by entreaties by former Mayor Edward I. Koch that New Yorkers be nice and an offer by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to give peaceful protesters buttons and shopping discounts.
Adam Chase, 23, who said he came from Michigan for the protests, said that while he believed demonstrators should not be violent, "I think it is quite unfair for the R.N.C. and the delegates to tell us we should not be telling them we think they are exploiting the fears of the people."
Mindful that delegates are targets, police officers guard their hotels and ride aboard their chartered buses around town, and several receive police escorts to various events.
"New York City is a fortress, and I love it," Joseph Kyrillos, the New Jersey state Republican chairman, said yesterday at a delegate breakfast. "We need to thank the New York police for all the protection."
Leonardo Alcivar, a spokesman for the convention, said officials recommended that delegates not respond to heckling and taunts, which he said have been "few and far between."
Still, he said, "Our delegates understand the old adage, do unto others as they do unto you."
The tensest encounters between delegates and protesters so far occurred Sunday evening when large groups of demonstrators moved through the theater district while delegates were attending shows under arrangements prepared by convention planners. Several protesters were arrested for trying to block hotel and theater entrances, and face-to-face standoffs abounded.
Outside "Bombay Dreams" demonstrators shouted at and videotaped people standing outside for intermission.
At "Aida," a group of protesters unfurled a banner and hurled invective at delegates leaving the show. Some looked nervous, but a few shouted back, "You're sick, sick."
Delegates lined up to see "Phantom of the Opera" ended up in a sing-song, tit-for-tat with protesters. One protester shouted, "The phantom dies at the end."
Flora Rohrs, a delegate from Colorado, burst into song, "This is my country," with bits of "God Bless America" thrown in. She said, "What is going on here is we are still going to get George Bush re-elected."
For some, there was no escape even at dinner.
"A person came by and used an explicative and stuck his finger in our face," said Deb Etcheson, an alternate delegate from Iowa. "But I don't blame that on New Yorkers. I just love this city."
Some delegates seemed perplexed, even hurt, not because they did not expect protesters to be here, but because they did not expect them to get personal. "They were using foul language, getting real ugly," said Kim Kirkwood, a delegate from Amarillo, Tex. Her husband, Jim, said he could not understand it. "I have friends who are Democrats in Texas, and we talk about things, agree to disagree."
Reporting for this article was contributed by Anthony Ramirez, Marc Santora, Mary Spicuzza and Jennifer Steinhauer.
An Anarchist Response to State Repression of RNC Resistance To the Streets!!!
A recent ABC News story has reported on an intelligence scheme by the NYPD to shadow 56 "primary anarchists" from states around the US to follow their every move in NYC. Whether this is a big bluff, an exaggerated scheme or merely one blip in the SS style tactics the NYPD has in store is yet to be seen. Though we question the State's real intelligence and capabilites in their "Intelligence" operations, we do know the damage they are capable of in their efforts to destroy people and movements. This is another step in criminalizing dissent and using repressive police state tactics to put down organized opposition to government and coporate control of our lives and the domination of the planet. This is the same COINTELPRO style bullshit and straight up thuggery that's been attacking opposition and social movements here in the US and around the world for hundreds of years.
Anarchists from all over the United States will be in New York City. But don't believe the hype! We are not terrorists hell bent on random violence and destruction. Our anger is aimed. It is aimed at all those who wish to destroy, commodify and control life. We laugh at the notion that a government that created napalm and nuclear bombs, and is destroying the planet and thousands of species of living beings at an excellerating rate has the audacity to paint us as terrorists!
We will not live in fear. Yes! we believe in property destruction as a viable tactic, we beileve in self-defense and even armed struggle. None of these things are foreign concepts in this country. Yet for some reason they are only acceptable when the US Government speaks of self-defense, property desctruction, or armed sturggle, anything in return to the Empire is mere terrorism - an excuse for the violence that brought the resistance in the first place. Make no mistake about it - we are at war. This war is on all of us, all the time. It's power versus people and the planet.
We are part of a longstanding tradition of anarchists throughout history that have existed for hundreds of years. Anarchists have been a part of every major social movement in this country and every major positive change that humanity has benefited from to this day. Beyond that, Anti-authoritarian and non-hiearchichal approaches to living have existed for thousands of years since before civilization itself.
We don't simply adovcate freedom and prosperity for our own nation state or those that work in concert with us, we don't simply want freedom for a certain class, or race or religion, and we don't speak of equality in terms of imaginary border lines wrapped with barbed wire. We are talking about complete unrestricted freedom for all, and for this Earth that is our home.
We do not give a f**k about the powers the FBI or any other law enforcement agent professes to have over any one of us. You may surveille us, tap our phones, shadow our every step and infiltrate our movements. But you are nothing but cronies for a government that does not give a f**k about you, humanity or anything real. You are another stepping stone toward complete control, and you will be used by the state for whatever you are worth and discarded like the poor, people of color, the trees and every other wild, living and free entity on this planet - unless of course you rise up now and resist this madness.
The end is coming, and it can be the end to this rotten ass system, or to us all, and every thing we know. The choice is ours.
To the streets of New York City and bring on the chaos! It can't get more mad than this system's daily existence.
F**k the Vote - Get Active! Washington DC
**As an organized show of anarchist solidarity to the recent repression of the protests against the RNC and all that will come, we're asking for other groups and anarchists to endorse this statement and continue passing it around.**
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