Large-scale Anti-War Arrests in San Fransisco

by Simpson Eh? Fri Mar 21, 2003 12:39

Actions in San Francisco provide inspiration for all who don't want to merely march while those who are happy to march can do so. Different Strokes for different folks... I'll be Willis.

see link:

by Joe Fri Mar 21, 2003 12:53

"It took three hours for anti-war activists to cripple downtown San Francisco using hit-and-run civil disobedience tactics to an extent never before seen in the Bay Area.

The city that nursed the sit-ins and be-ins of the counterculture protesters of the 1960s was gummed up by a form of demonstration that relies on the whims of small knots of activists, who flitted from block to block instead of lumbering with the predictability of a mass march."

by From infoshop.org Fri Mar 21, 2003 13:12

What a busy morning around here. My building woke me up with a siren. Then, simultaneously, anti-war protestors, as promised, hit the streets promptly at 7 a.m. The groups had a very amazing and successful strategy to break up into many smaller (yet large) groups and are roving around all the major intersections, freeway on ramps into the city (including the Bay Bridge). It shutdown downtown. I did not think that they would be successful, since they tried this last Friday. But, many more came than I expected, and they are hard core, ready to be arrested. The news reports advise the public to stay out of downtown. I thought it would be over by now. Not. And, the police have now seemingly given up. There are no police stopping them. There have been about 350-500 arrests, but the protestors created such a traffic halt that the paddy wagons and buses could not get to the arrestees. I have been hold up in my apartment. You can't get out, and if you get out, there is! no guarantee that you can ever get back in any time soon. The news reporters admitted that they just can't keep up with the roving protestors.

Market Street is a ghost town, just the protestors walking up and down the street at will. I tried to get out to run some errands, I thought the crowd had moved on to another intersection. When I came out of the stores there they were again. I ducked back into my apartment as quickly as I could as I found myself walking with them side by side, quite accidently. I realized I could be scooped up by police as a protestor.

As I try to conduct work, I find the noise from the helicopters, the horn honking of frustration and support, and the crowd itself is quite deafening and very distracting. The television is 100% reporting the war combat, with local news breaks reporting on 100% anti-war protestors. BART is now shutdown after hundreds of high school children stormed the Fruitvale station, a major station - and this is the Black community of Oakland. Ironically, the Asian Art Museum opened today. Major dignitaries there requiring police. Today, police are stretched. This is really amazing to experience.

The protestors are also at Civic Center, in front of City Hall, about 100 yards across the street from the Asian Art Museum. The Fire Department is reporting that it is experiencing major delays in being able to respond to calls. The reports are that at any given time, 20-30 major intersections are being blocked

by And New York Fri Mar 21, 2003 13:16

Several people were arrested and the streets filled with trashcans and barricades. A few hundred people gathered at Columbus Circle today in NYC to protest the bombing. The Youth Bloc, No Blood for Oil, NYC Radical Cheerleaders and several affinity groups of various anarchist type people and others gathered SEPARATE from the large rally (of thousands that ended up PENNED IN, LIKE ALWAYs) one bloc from Times Square. This break away march was led by a supported banner (That saved us many times. You should get one at your rally, hard cardboard, tubes or PVC piping in the front and sides and a banner made of tarp hanging from it, make it flexible with joints.). We took the street just as we came into Times Square. We eventually were forced off of the street again as police tried to target individuals after a long push and shove conflict. We passed the MTV building and all the other attractions, freaking out the VJs and the workers inside (I believe it was filmed by MTV at this point) the police looked like jack asses as they shoved and hit people outside all of the live media institutions. Some people recieved band injuries from batons. Outside the Nasdaq building where live "Wall Street" filming was happening we pounded on the glass, causing them to freak out as the pounding was continuously aired on live TV.

The police used batons on several occasions, one woman was knocked unconsious. Later the police used pepper spray on a whole row of people and eventually forced people off a side street. This was their first big mistake. Everyone started running and dancing in the street, throwing every newsstand and metal trash can available, stopping all traffic and leaving the police in the dust. The police tried to jog and keep up, but at this point no one was nabbed and trashcans and other large debris were strewed down several blocs. We took the streets for blocks and blocks, having a good time.

We turned off then and back into Times Square, running and dancing the whole way. We took the streets again for a while, up more blocks. Making the police look like fools. In Times Square police caught up and mounted police officers as well. Several people here were arrested and beaten as we were all finally forced off the street. Some of us joined the cold, wet, bored, penned in people (Several thousand) on the other side of Times Square. They were listening to endless speeches as the Youth Bloc and others were taking the streets, making fools of the police and eventually some were beaten and arrested. There was no direct contact with the thousands of people only one or two blocks away as the leaders of the communist organizations quitted chants in the crowd of "Lets March Now" saying "We'll March Soon". Hopefully this Saturday people will not stand for being anywhere NEAR pens and police barricades and endless speeches and will take the streets like some of us did. Hopefully the communist organizers and authoritarian leaders and the police will be ignored and WE WILL TAKE THE STREETS! If those thousands had done the same thing that the breakaway march did it would have made international news and gone down in history! There is a WAR on! People are dying RIGHT NOW! This is a time for ACTION! As Americans we MUST put ourselves ON THE LINE for people who have no choice in the matter, these people are dying in OUR NAME!~