Judge Denies March Permit, Feb15 Protest Goes On

soil ride solrde at msn.com
Tue Feb 11 17:44:47 PST 2003


I am getting psyched on going to the demonstration [this will be like my 4th time in NYC] and yet because of what is going on, I am still feeling quite nervous-especially about the permits not being granted-still no matter what happens I'll be there saying No to the bourgeios dictatorship and their imperialist war. Hope all on the list can make it!

Joshua

"In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself." -Frantz Fanon

----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck0" <chuck at mutualaid.org> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 11:50 PM Subject: Re: Judge Denies March Permit, Feb15 Protest Goes On


>
> Michael Pollak wrote:
> > [I talked to several people over the weekend who don't normally go to
> > marches, but who were thinking of going to this one, and without
> > exception, the idea of marching illegally made the whole thing seem much
> > more attractive to them. It seemed like yet another outrage, and
breaking
> > the law seemed like the perfect way to express the depth of their own
> > outrage -- besides having more of an effect for the same reason, and so
> > feeling more effective.]
>
> Amen. The police have screwed themselves, because protest permits are one
of
> the most effective ways to control protesters. On the flip side, I think
this
> bodes badly for dissent in this country, as I think the cops will just
resort
> to violence.
>
> > [What do people think are the chances of a stationery rally turning into
> > an illegal march given the opposition of New York's army of cops?
Chuck0,
> > do you have any suggestions for making it more likely?]
>
> Yes, I have a few ideas, but I can't share them here publicly. Several
> anarchists on the East Coast have come up with a few new strategies to
> neutralize the advantage that New York cops have, but we aren't quite
ready
> to put them into motion.
>
> The important thing to keep in mind that if your rally or march is penned
in
> by cops, your options are limited. That's why groups need to organize
stuff
> outside of the expected rally and march.
>
> Divide and conquer the police, if you will.
>
> > [It's funny how many people who would never think of challenging the
> > police at a permitted rally, never mind throwing a brick, get fired up
> > about the idea when the march has been made illegal. If there's one
thing
> > that Americans across the spectrum can get self-righteous about, it's
> > their first amendment rights.]
>
> It's about time. One of the reasons why I've marched with the black bloc
is
> to protest the stupid notion that the cops have a right to decide when,
> where, and how we will protest. I could never understand the idea of
getting
> a permit to exercise your basic constitutional and human rights.
>
> Of course, what most activists and protesters don't understand is that the
> protest permit system was developed by the police after the 1960s to get
> activists to police themselves. Bashing heads in the 1960s made the cops
look
> bad, so in the 1970s they developed new methods of working with activists.
>
> Let me just add that I'm extremely disappointed that UFPJ is devoting so
much
> time to complaining about not getting a permit. To some extent, this
> controversy generate publicity (which is why the IAC plays this game so
> well), but the terrible problem is that it makes all the media coverage
focus
> on the legality of protest and policing, instead of on the issues. If I
were
> involved with the UFPJ, I would have made a small fuss today, but would
have
> quickly switched gears to get on message about the war.
>
> Chuck0
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Personal homepage -> http://chuck.mahost.org/
> Infoshop.org -> http://www.infoshop.org/
> MutualAid.org -> http://www.mutualaid.org/
> Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org/
> Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/
> Anarchy: AJODA -> http://www.anarchymag.org/
>
> "The state can't give you free speech, and the state can't take it away.
> You're born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something
you
> assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to
which
> you resist is the degree to which you are free..."
> ---Utah Phillips
>



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