How’s this for a summer blockbuster? “On August 14,
the streets will rumble, the System will tremble, and the masses
will be heard! From the people who brought you Seattle in ’99
and A16 in D.C. last April, it’s D2K!”
In one week, the city of Los Angeles will be flooded with
thousands of people headed for the Democratic National Convention
in downtown L.A. While hundreds of delegates will be ushered inside
Staples Center’s multi-million-dollar walls to participate in
our oligarchic “democracy,” thousands of activists will
spend their week outside, protesting the two-party system’s
lack of concern for issues of social justice, including labor
rights, environmental regulations, universal health care and
corporate abuse.
Unfortunately for those planning to protest here in L.A. next
week, the same repressive tactics deployed by the Seattle police
last November and the D.C. police in April are expected to be
mimicked by the LAPD. And after the embarrassing Lakers riots,
I’ll wager L.A.’s “boys in blue” are
especially anxious to restore their reputation as members of one of
America’s most brutal police forces.
During both the protests in Seattle and Washington, D.C.,
America’s mainstream, corporate-owned media vilified
protesters as anarchic thugs who were a plague to American society.
All violence, including the incredibly repressive shows of police
brutality, was unilaterally blamed on the demonstrators, despite
the fact that the overwhelming majority of activists were peaceful
during both events.
Once the media had unjustly incriminated the protesters by
charging all activists with violent behavior, the police stepped
forward and deployed an extraordinarily excessive show of force to
“control” the “renegades.” Police
tear-gassed thousands of peaceful protesters and innocent
bystanders, arrested demonstrators en masse (despite the fact that
activists had obtained permits to march from city officials),
barred community journalists from IMF/World Bank meetings, and
censored activists by shutting down Kinko’s copy shops
throughout D.C. to prevent groups from photocopying informational
flyers and brochures.
But the police aren’t all bad, right? What about the
innocent civilians who could have been harmed by uncontrolled
crowds of protesters, who might have turned violent without police
control? Shouldn’t citizens support their police, who after
all put an end to the riots and stampedes which can leave cities
destroyed and people dead? Such considerations have prompted many
people to argue that police should be defended, regardless of their
behavior, because someone must be responsible for “keeping
the peace.” If protecting DNC delegates or WTO members means
throwing a couple hundred rowdy protesters in jail overnight, or
exposing them to a little tear-gas every once in a while, then so
be it, right?
Not exactly.
Besides violating the tenets of non-violence and pacifism,
police tactics transgress numerous fundamental human rights,
including the rights to expression, association, life and liberty.
How can America claim to champion human rights internationally when
our government is so clearly violating the rights of its own
citizens?
And whatever happened to pacifism? Why is it that American
police must use force or threats of physical abuse to control large
crowds of people? And why is it that many Americans refuse to
examine police behavior with a more critical eye, even after
non-violent Americans are harmed for simply speaking out against
social disparities?
It is absurd to believe that there are no alternatives to
violence. If we are serious about creating a peaceful society, we
must work to hold all sectors of our social order to the same
standards. I agree that protesters should not be armed, or
vandalize property, or seek to harm other individuals, and I hold
the police to the same standards. What, exactly, is so unfathomable
about that?
And let’s not forget that certain police tactics leave
victims permanently debilitated. In the months following the Battle
in Seattle, the Washington Toxins Coalition invoked that
state’s Public Disclosure Act to obtain “Material
Safety Data Sheets” from the Seattle Police Department. These
pages listed information for all chemicals used by the police
department in crowd control during the November WTO protests.
According to the coalition’s executive director, Carol
Dansereau, one type of tear gas used in Seattle is called liquid
agent CN, which contains 50 percent active ingredient mace and 50
percent methylene chloride. Methylene chloride is a common
ingredient in paint strippers and varnish removers, and is
classified by toxicologists as a “possible/anticipated
carcinogen.” (Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, March
16-23 2000).
According to Dansereau, symptoms of “over-exposure to
methylene chloride include central nervous system depression,
temporary neurobehavioral effects, spontaneous abortions, mental
confusion, liver damage, accoustical [sic] and optical delusions,
kidney damage, lung damage, tingling of limbs, and other
problems” (Independent Media Center-Los Angeles Listserv
Archives).
Yet liquid agent CN is not a commonly used tear gas. Instead,
police in Canada and other parts of the United States usually use
pyrotechnic CS agent, or CS, which does not contain methylene
chloride. Therefore, the use of an unusual, carcinogenic form of
tear gas against protesters is no coincidence and underscores a
frightening trend. All too often, the tactics deployed by American
police against social justice activists are effectively terrorist
tactics, designed to send a clear message: protest injustice and
speak your conscience at your own significant risk.
It’s time for round three: the DNC. Though the first
delegates have yet to arrive, the DNC has already had significant
historic repercussions. Three weeks ago, in a decision favoring the
American Civil Liberties Union, Judge Gary Feess deemed the
186-acre “no-protest zone” established by L.A. city
officials around Staples Center unconstitutional. Additionally, the
judge attacked the city’s application process for parades and
the use of public parks for protests. Before the ruling, activists
were required to submit an application for a parade or protest
permit 40 days prior to the scheduled events; Judge Feess has
declared the process “unconstitutionally restrictive and
vague” (Todd S. Purdum, New York Times, July 23 2000).
While this ruling is a positive step toward guaranteeing
Americans the right to protest, the fact remains that the DNC will
be a test of this country’s true commitment to fundamental
freedoms and basic human rights. Thus far, the signs aren’t
exactly positive: the LAPD has reassigned every gang enforcement
unit to Staples Center, has been practicing in riot gear for
months, and has sent representatives to Philadelphia, Seattle, and
D.C. to watch other police departments in order to
“prepare” for protesters in Los Angeles.
This convention is destined to change the course of American
politics. Despite police presence and repression, protesters will
once again join together to agitate against existing injustices.
The DNC will provide social activists with a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to join with others and participate in a public
expression of solidarity and direct action organizing.
Come to the DNC. It will be a time to advocate loudly for a more
equitable global social order and to move toward creating our own
peaceful society. It will be our chance to monitor police behavior
to prevent armed forces from drowning out the voices of the people.
We must set the example, so the future can follow.