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	Anarchistic Advice to LAPD Daniel C. Tsang L.A. Times 8/12/2000 pB9

UCIrvine Librarian, selects anarchist pamphlets for UCI Political Literature Collection.

L.A. Police Chief Bernard C. Parks is not likely to ignore the law enforcement lessons from Philadelphia with city fathers there extolling their success in preventing protesters from shutting down the convention. Police there targeted protest leaders like John Sellers, the founder of the Berkeley-based civil disobedience training group, the Ruckus Society, who initially was hit with an incredible $1-million bail (later lowered), an amount typically reserved for serial killers, not those accused of misdemeanors.
Most of the protesters were rounded up before they did anything, in a sort of preventive detention one would have thought was barred by the U.S. Constitution. L.A. will appear lax in not copying that successful tactic. Such "proactive" law enforcement makes a mockery of constitutional guarantees of freedoms of assembly and speech. Watching the video and reading the news accounts on alternative Web sites about the widespread civil rights violations perpetrated by Philadelphia's Finest, I could not help wondering if the birthplace of the U.S. Constitution and the city that houses the Liberty Bell had not become another urban enclave in a banana republic where dissidents were routinely locked up.

Since Seattle, anarchists have become American society's latest nightmare. Young people are convenient scapegoats in an era where even rights for adults are fast becoming a scarce commodity, witness the fact that few workers have any recourse to employers snooping on their e-mail. On "Subversity," my KUCI radio show, I've interviewed Orange County anarchist youth who are part of the August Collective, a group organizing a weeklong North American anarchist conference that overlaps the Democratic convention.
These scions of Orange County's working families are not zonked-out kids out to do wanton violence. Indeed, among anarchists themselves there is no consensus that violence is the right tactic. Some like pointing out that there is a difference between violence against people and that against property. Yet others worry that any violence will only incur a violent police crackdown, with the anarchist message lost in the turmoil.

To be sure, the image of masked protesters does bring fear to those in power. Intimidation, after all, is one of the purposes of wearing the masks, as in hiding the identity of the wearer. But the anarchists I talked with also point out that police themselves often pull down the face shields on their riot-gear helmets and turn over their badges,thereby effectively preventing identification. So, they argue, they are just borrowing a tactic used by the cops.
Like their ideological predecessors from the student protests of the '60s, the anarchists I know are disgusted with their parents' generation and abhor the capitalist values that dominate conventional politics. Authorities in L.A. need to sit back, reflect and not be panicked into a constitutional blunder that would take years and lawsuits to untangle. These children of the dot.com generation have an important message that needs to be given voice: We don't want to be cogs in a global capitalist machine.
As for my agriculture inspection, I passed with flying colors.

At Dress Rehearsal, Activists Vow Nonviolent Protests Nicholas Riccardi staff writer L.A. Times 7/26/2000 pB1 Pershing Square became the stage Tuesday for a public dress rehearsal of the mass protests expected during the Democratic National Convention, and Margaret Prescod was stage manager. "Is the ribbon of oppression ready to go?" veteran activist Prescod asked from a lectern bristling with microphones. The ribbon, a long, narrow banner emblazoned with the words "Corporate Govt" & "Police State", was cut using a pair of cardboard scissors bearing the logo "People Power." Then, to the beat of Aztec drums, dozens of activists toting signs and banners, and a few dressed as giant frogs to symbolize potential environmental damage from the Playa Vista development on the Westside, marched through the square. The purpose of the event, organizers said, was to celebrate a federal judge's decision last week that the city's process for regulating events in the park and for keeping protesters away from the site of the convention at Staples Center was an unconstitutional violation of the rights to free speech and assembly. The diverse crowd of about 100 activists--ranging from grandmothers to teenagers, professional organizers who roam the nation to longtime Los Angeles activists--said they also wanted to counter what they see as a City Hall campaign to demonize them as violent. "Now that doesn't look very threatening, does it?" Prescod asked a crowd of reporters as the procession ended. Of course, the procession did not include activities with the greatest potential for confrontations with police, civil disobedience that could involve blocking streets or office buildings. The main protest events planned are mass marches not intended to interfere with the convention, but participants in smaller "direct actions" may try to disrupt businesses or government agencies. In addition, police have warned of some protesters who they believe may come to Los Angeles intent on causing damage to property or even provoking violent confrontations with authorities. But the activists who gathered Tuesday said they oppose any violence and added that their wide range of concerns can only be addressed by tapping into the American tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience. "Many of these issues … are life and death issues," said Lisa Fithian of the Direct Action Network, which is helping coordinate protests next month. "We have no other choice but to take these additional risks and additional acts to make this sort of change." The array of signs at Tuesday's rehearsal hinted at the wide range of topics activists hope to highlight. Among them: sanctions against Iraq, the pending execution of activist and convicted police killer Mumia Abu-jamal, U.S. military aid to Colombia, immigrants' rights and welfare reform. Before marching into the square, the protesters gathered behind banners bearing phrases such as "Power to the People" and "Democrats, Republicans = Corporate Puppets" in English and Spanish. Four silver-haired women, the "Raging Grannies" who were at protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, sang a brief song. Next, a cluster of black-clad women performed a short dance, punctuated with spoken factoids, such as that since 1982 California has built 24 prisons and one university. "Whether we're looking at prisons, sweatshops or the militarization of poorer countries," said Alli Starr of San Francisco-based Global Exchange, "we're looking at the hijacking of democracy by wealth corporations." Then activists dressed as Los Angeles police officers spread the "ribbon of oppression" across the entrance to the square, and it was symbolically snipped. About a half-dozen real LAPD officers observed the event from the sidelines. Finally, a host of activists from different organizations streamed to the microphones to discuss their issues. "We want more funding for our schools instead of prisons," said Lester Garcia, 17, of East Los Angeles, adding that in inner-city schools the student-to-teacher ratio can be as high as 40 to 1. Calling for amnesty for illegal immigrants, Randy Jurado Ertll of the Central American Resource Center said he was glad the Democratic convention will be at Staples Center because the arena "truly symbolizes the growing gap between the rich and poor." Michael Zinzun, who has long been an activist on police abuse issues, presented a broad list of demands to the Democratic Party: "They must address issues such as racial profiling, a minimum wage people can live on, support for workers' right to organize unions, better medical benefits." Speakers also said they wanted to rebut reports of violent intentions during the convention. The groups organizing the mass protests have pledged to avoid damaging people or property.

Activists Give Tours of L.A.'s Gritty Side Erin Texeira & Hector Tobar LATimes 8/11/00 pB2 Normally, tour operators in Los Angeles show visitors the city's grand museums and sunny beaches and the opulent homes of film stars. They are unlikely to take tourists into South-Central Los Angeles to point out neighborhood environmental damage, let alone visit Santee Alley garment-making factories to learn about poor working conditions. But that's exactly what some are doing. In preparation for next week's Democratic National Convention--and the large protests planned in response to it--organizers with the human rights group Global Exchange are taking three days to show visitors and city residents "the politics behind the protests." "Why are people unhappy with our democratic system? What's going on with our political parties that people don't feel they speak for them?" Xiomara Castro of Global Exchange asked about 30 participants early Thursday. "It's important to highlight the local problems in the community. … We're going to talk to ordinary people who live, who work here." The excursions, called Reality of Los Angeles Tours, offer visitors and city residents a view of the city's poorer, more downtrodden areas. On Thursday, it focused on alleged environmental racism. Today, participants will explore justice issues, at a youth detention hall. On Saturday they will meet with day laborers in downtown's garment district. Global Exchange is paying for the bulk of the tours, which start as early at 7 a.m. and last up to 12 hours. The group also requests a $25 donation for one day's participation or $50 for the entire tour. On Thursday, most participants in the large luxury tour bus were activists, students and concerned citizens, and the rest were members of the press, said Dan LaBotz of Global Exchange. Though the tour was open to anyone, most were from the Los Angeles area. The tour began with an orientation at MacArthur Park near downtown. Participants then visited an oil refinery in Santa Fe Springs. The CENCO Refining Co. was closed in 1995 amid multiple safety violations and complaints of pollution from neighbors. New owners are trying to reopen it, according to Carlos Porras, executive director of Communities for a Better Environment. Later, the tour went to Huntington Park to discuss a 50-foot-tall mound of freeway debris left over from the Northridge earthquake. Those who live next to the pile they call la montana, the mountain, say it spreads dust that causes breathing problems, headaches and bloody noses. The owner has agreed to fix the problem, after a years-long campaign by residents. "It is in minority areas that they are doing this," said Linda Marquez, a retired retail worker whose frontyard faces the pile and who spoke to the tour Thursday. "They wouldn't do this in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica. They do it in places where they don't think there will be repercussions." From there, the group went to New Jefferson Middle School in South-Central, the site of toxic soil contamination. Studies are underway to determine potential levels of danger. School health room visits at New Jefferson are considerably higher than the district average, according to Juan Garcia, youth environmental organizer of Concerned Citizens of South-Central. "The time is now for people to get involved," he said. "The school district is just not doing enough." Tour participants took notes and asked questions, then headed toward USC for lunch. Afterward, they planned to visit the Belmont Learning Complex, the embattled school construction site on which city officials spent $175 million before they realized it was contaminated with methane and hydrogen sulfide. The tour starts tomorrow at 8 a.m. at 6th Street and Park View Street at MacArthur Park.

On the last day of November last year, I was walking among the swirling crowds and clouds of tear gas in Seattle and noticed Tom Hayden standing on a corner, checking out the tens of thousands of anti-World Trade Organization protesters, the Turtles & Teamsters together. Given that our organization, Public Citizen, helped organize the WTO protests, I asked him what he thought about our mobilization against corporate globalization. A yearlong international grass-roots campaign had stopped a planned expansion of the WTO. He was impressed. Encouraged, I went for it: "Tom," I asked, "how does this compare to, you know, Chicago '68?"
"The difference," he told me, "is that you're winning."
Like many veterans of Seattle, I will be in Philadelphia for the GOP convention and in L.A. for the Democrats'. I wish we were organizing a massive street celebration of either party's post-Seattle epiphany that the flawed and failed free trade agenda must be replaced. If we were winning, the Democratic convention would ratify, in its party platform, a fair trade plank that meets the legitimate expectations of workers and family farmers and ensures that a living wage, the environment, health and democratic accountability are not subordinated to the imperatives of corporate managed trade.

But we're not winning, and the current platform draft, prepared by the corprocratic scriveners at the "Democratic" Leadership Council, includes a call to revive the outdated "fast-track" model of trade negotiating authority that gave us North American Free Trade Agreement and was defeated twice by Congress. Since Seattle, the trade policy showdown was a vote on China's permanent normal trade relations.
The China business lobby spent an unprecedented amount of money pushing PNTR. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Business Roundtable (a corporate lobbying group) companies have poured $58 million into the campaign coffers of both parties and members on both sides of the aisle since 1999, including dozens of Democratic "super-delegates", elected officials. The business campaign spent tens of millions more on lobbyists and TV and radio advertising. And, of course, transnational corporations are "sponsoring" the conventions; Motorola, for example, which dropped a cool million on pro-PNTR advertising, spent another million funding the DNC party next month. Then Al Gore selected Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, perhaps the biggest booster of corporate managed trade in any administration in history, as chairman of his campaign.

So, as I and my fellow activists don our protest puppets and the Democrats put on their party hats, a few words of advice and admonition are suggested by our experience in Seattle and a decade of grass- roots travails in the cause of fair trade. To Democratic delegates: I urge you to walk off the Staples Center set, put down your scripts, come outside, cross the police line and join us in the street to share, for a few minutes, the spirit of Seattle. Globalization and trade policy are marker issues now, canaries in the mine shaft of Democratic policymaking, and this convention is an opportunity to return your party to its progressive, pro-worker antecedents. If you read the same polls I do, you should realize that your standard bearer stands a better chance in November if you push him to renounce his slavish devotion to corporate globalization.
To the mainstream media: You have all our sympathy for trying to find actual news in the predictable, scripted convention proceedings. You will do your readers and viewers a favor by coming outside as well to find some real stories. And please don't get distracted by protest tactics. You should be asking why we are outside with our signs and chants, not merely what we're planning to do to get our message heard.
To Mayor Riordan and the LAPD: We've all read about your baton-rattling preparations for protesters. Listen, nobody doubts that you're "Tough Enough to Turn L.A. into a Battle Zone". But hey, you invited the convention to L.A. (just as Seattle invited the WTO), and political protest is part of the package. So spare us the bluff and bluster about anarchists. We will be peacefully exercising our 1st Amendment rights.
To my fellow activists: Folks, we're holding our own against a much better financed corporate lobby because its agenda hurts the majority of people living with its results. Seattle was a battle in a larger war between corporate rule and civil society, and the great and good grass-roots of the international fair trade movement, workers, family farmers, consumers, environmental and human rights activists, must fight on united. The next skirmish, damn it, will be on the streets of L.A. I'll see you there.

Under normal circumstances, hardly anyone in L.A. ever talks about Seattle, except to express delight that they don't live there. These days, however, are an exception. It's Seattle, Seattle, Seattle everywhere you go. What they're saying is that they don't want what happened in Seattle to happen here. Their reference is to the chaos last year at the world trade summit, during which the Seattle cops came out looking like puppies barking at dinosaurs. The scenes of that calamity are fixed in the minds of our city leaders as the Democratic National Convention looms closer. "We don't want what happened in Seattle to happen here," they sing, like so many sopranos in a church choir.
Mayor Richard Riordan is bustling around these days asking, Rodney King-like, "Can't we all just be nice?" Toward that end, he's been shaking his fist and joining efforts to keep all those Seattle-type people as far away as possible from Staples Center when the Democrats come to party Aug. 14. The effort failed. A wise federal magistrate, U.S. District Judge Gary Feess, in striking down a city proposal to create a wide "security zone" (Riordan Road?) around the center, said more or less that you can't subvert the 1st Amendment for the sake of image or convenience. In effect, he explained to the city that the purpose of protest is to reach the protestees, and to do so the protesters must be within at least shouting range. Amen to that.

Those affected by the decision were elated, insofar as protesters are capable of expressing elation and at the same time remaining cool. As everyone knows, when protesters get too worked up they have a tendency to smash and loot. Don't take my word for it. Ask around at City Hall or Parker Center. The LAPD even has a code name for them: STPs. Right. Seattle-Type People.
I spoke with a couple of the STPs the other day in the old building where they have established their headquarters about a mile north of Staples Center. One of them is actually an L.A. teacher, so I guess she's an LASTP. Both Sarah Knopp, 23, the teacher, and Lisa Fithian, 39, a New York political activist, promise that their purpose in demonstrating is not to create violence or cause property damage but to protest corporate greed, racism, unemployment, militarism, a biased criminal justice system, inadequate medical treatment for the poor and some other things I can't recall. People things.
Fithian, however, points out that not everyone considers property damage to be a form of violence and adds: "The only clear violence in Seattle was committed by the police." An organizer of the protests planned in L.A., she otherwise wanders the country raising hell for social justice. Knopp, a socialist since high school, sees "something boiling under the surface of America," adding: "Thousands and thousands of people are angry at the way politics are going in this country, and those of us on the street represent them."

The suit challenging the existence of Riordan Road was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Among those cheering Judge Feess' decision (but never smashing or looting) was Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU. "We weren't asking that the protesters be allowed to demonstrate at the door of Staples," she said over the phone, "but they shouldn't be kept two football fields away either." She was especially annoyed at Riordan's recent rabble-rousing essay on our op-ed page. "It was heavy-handed," she said, "and the demonstrators were offended by it. That could cause trouble."
Often the voice of reason in L.A., Ripston points out that in a democracy, things aren't always "tidy and perfect." Freedom involves risks, she says, but repression should never be the answer to those risks. Tom Hayden agrees. The feisty state senator, a leader in the earth-shaking social revolutions of the 1960s, accuses the city of trying to invoke prior restraint on the demonstrators. "Stop 'em before they start," he said, mocking Riordan and the LAPD. "Arrest 'em because they might do something." Hayden adds: "Riordan wanted to showcase L.A. with the convention, to say, 'Look, we're back!' Then along comes the shadow of Seattle."
All of those above, even the STPs, seem to be hoping that the convention will be carried off in a reasonable manner. I see that as meaning that inside Staples, speakers will bore everyone to death and outside, protesters will yell everyone to death. Nothing will change. Nothing will be accomplished. But at least the shadow of Seattle will be lifted and we can all get back to lolling in the nice Riordan sunshine.

For the fourth time in as many days, Maria Guardado, 64, of Los Angeles, carried a banner in a march. One day, she carried a poster denouncing Americans as "executioners of Latin Americans." The next afternoon, it was a canvas "Free Mumia" sign. Then she marched with a Ralph Nader placard. Her last sign read, "Sindicato de Pasajeros [bus riders' union]." "I believe in many things," Guardado said in Spanish.

"What Does It Take to Get Arrested in This Town Anyway ?"
Nora Zamichow from staff & correspondent reports L.A. Times 8/18/2000 pU5

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