Youths defy police repression in battle of NYC
By Julie Fry
New York
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in
demonstrations against the Republican National Convention in
New York City. While the demonstration on Aug. 29, with over
500,000 people, was by far the largest event of the week, there
were dozens of actions throughout the convention that brought
out thousands of people as well.
Many of the actions were organized and led by youths,
especially the direct street actions. Some of these actions
were organized well in advance. Others were spontaneous. But
the result was a clear, mass rejection of the repressive and
brutal program of the Bush administration. The New York Police
Department and the Bush administration met this sentiment with
even more brutality and repression during the week.
Instead of resigning themselves to the steel pens and
designated protest areas set up by the police to ensure that
demonstrators would have no contact with the convention or its
delegates, young activists were creative and determined to let
the Bush administration know that they were there and ready to
fight back.
Starting on Aug. 27, the Friday before the opening of the
convention, when thousands of bicyclists clogged the streets of
Manhattan for several hours and rode past Madison Square
Garden, demonstrators found ways to reach the convention that
the cops had tried so hard to keep them away from.
Activists from Fight Imperialism-Stand Together (FIST)
participated in many of these actions alongside thousands of
other young militants. They witnessed and experienced the
brutal police response.
Over 1,800 people were arrested during the convention. As
FIST member Peter Gilbert described it, "Anyone under 30 was
targeted by the police. I think the banner we were carrying
that said 'Stop the War on Youth From Here to Najaf' was very
timely because there was definitely an all-out war on youth in
New York last week."
Gilbert reported that, while waiting in line during the week
at the courthouse to get information about a friend who had
been, he met parents whose 18- and 19-year-old children had
been arrested on their way home from work or while out riding
bicycles.
Heavy-handed cops
The police responded with heavy repression to even the
smallest and most peaceful actions. On Aug. 31, the day on
which the greatest number of arrests occurred, FIST members
went to the steps of the New York Public Library to assemble
with other youths who wanted to march to Madison Square
Garden.
Two participants tried to prop up a banner on a statue near
the steps as they waited for others to arrive. Cops surrounded
and arrested them immediately. Minutes later, dozens of police
swarmed the stairs and started making arrests.
SNAFU organizer Dustin Langley was thrown to the ground and
handcuffed by police after trying to take pictures of another
arrest. The SNAFU organization supports GI resisters.
Police then chased those protesters at the library off the
steps and down the street. The cops used a mesh net to trap
fleeing protesters. Several bystanders were caught in the net
and arrested as well.
Later that night FIST members were in Herald Square, where a
group of youths of color from the Still We Rise Coalition led a
group of protesters for at least an hour. They chanted and
booed Republican delegates who passed by their corner. The
demonstration was absolutely peaceful and disciplined the
entire time--even when a police provocateur was sent into the
crowd to try to start a fight.
Still, the police decided to attack the demonstration,
sending hundreds of people fleeing for their safety into
oncoming traffic. Many caught by the police were beaten and
brutalized. Gilbert reported being cornered by the police at
one point, and then managing to escape only because the police
turned away from him in order to join in beating another
activist. Events like this occurred in Union Square and other
parts of the city that night.
The brutality did not end with the arrests. Activists were
held for two or three days at a time in filthy conditions. New
York law requires the police to give arrestees a probable cause
hearing within 24 hours of an arrest. A state judge at one
point ordered the police to immediately release about 500
people who had been held for days without any hearing.
The NYPD and the city ignored the court's order, even after
being held in contempt by the judge. It was clear that the
police were trying to keep activists off the streets until
after the demonstrations were over.
Repression fuels resistance
This police strategy failed to stop the protests. Imani
Henry, a Workers World Party member who participated along with
FIST members in the direct actions, said: "When you arrest a
thousand people one day, and then the next day thousands more
people show up at demonstrations, that shows that the strategy
of preemptive detention does not work."
Indeed, despite the attempts by the NYPD to terrorize youths
throughout the week, young activists continued to participate
in and lead the demonstrations. At the ANSWER protest Sept. 2
until 10 p.m. when Bush began to speak, and even later when
another group marched up to Madison Square Garden from Union
Square, young people refused to give in.
Who was the NYPD protecting last week? Certainly not the
vast majority of New Yorkers, who stated in poll after poll
before the convention that they supported the demonstrators.
This support came despite a massive media campaign to demonize
demonstrators, especially young activists, before and during
the convention.
When hundreds of cyclists were rounded up and arrested on
Aug. 27 in the East Village, people came out from bars and
restaurants in the neighborhood to boo the cops and cheer on
the cyclists. During the many marches that took place all over
the city during the week, residents leaned out of their windows
or stood on their front stoops waving and cheering on the
demonstrators.
Several times pedestrians stopped FIST members carrying
placards or banners around the city in between demonstrations
to wish them luck or tell them to "Give 'em hell."
Despite all the police and corporate media lies about
activists' threats against the city, most New Yorkers knew it
was the convention and the Bush administration that pose a real
threat to their well being. New Yorkers, like people in many
other cities, have been deeply affected by job losses and by
the loss of billions of dollars for social programs that is now
being used in the brutal occupation of Iraq.
That the Bush administration came to New York to exploit the
events of 9/11 for its political gain made the presence of the
convention all the more insulting to the people of New
York.
So why did the police spend tens of millions of dollars on
security and arrest hundreds of people last week? To protect
the bankers and the bosses whose interests they really
serve.
Having hundreds of thousands of people in the streets ready
to shut down a convention destroys the illusion perpetuated by
both ruling parties that they actually represent the interests
of the vast majority of people in this country.
The youths who battled in the streets all week, despite the
demonization by the media and despite the brutality of the
police, were trying to bring a little bit of truth to the
parade of lies and distortions that characterized both the
Republican and the Democratic conventions. They should be
commended for their boldness and bravery.
Reprinted from the Sept. 16, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page