By Benjamin Parke
Daily Bruin Contributor
A self-styled billionaire who is a graduate student at UCLA
remains in L.A. County Jail after being arrested during last
week’s protests accompanying the Democratic National
Convention.
The student was part of two dozen people arrested at the Los
Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division station Aug. 16
during an act of civil disobedience over police brutality.
She is booked in the jail as “Jane Doe,” as she and
others have refused to give their names to the police.
The Sunday before, during a demonstration at The Gap on the
Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, the student jokingly gave
her name as “Iona Diamondfield” and was attired in
fancy clothes as a member of the “Billionaires for Bush or
Gore.”
She was one of about a dozen people from UCLA who formed an
“affinity group” to keep tabs on each other as they
protested the DNC.
According to one member of the group who talked to
“Diamondfield” on Aug. 19, she and some others in the
facility were fasting as an act of solidarity, taking liquids
only.
“I’m a peaceful protester. I do not support police
violence,” was Diamondfield’s only statement as police
took her into custody.
During the protests from Aug. 13-17 nobody in the UCLA group,
nicknamed “Superfriends,” was injured, though they did
endure sweltering heat and some tense situations.
On the eve of the convention, protesters assembled at The Gap on
the Third Street Promenade August to protest the clothing
outlet’s alleged use of sweatshop labor.
From there, they marched to a party being held for the
“Blue Dogs,” a caucus of more conservative Democrats,
at the Santa Monica Pier.
Besides Diamondfield and other members from the affinity group,
a UCLA art history professor was dressed to the hilt as another
“Billionaire for Bush or Gore,” wearing a dapper suit
complete with a top hat and dollar-patterned tie.
“We’re bipartisan, you see ““ we buy Democrats
and Republicans,” said the professor, who introduced himself
to people as “Fillmore Pockets.”
At the beach, marchers were addressed by Green Party candidate
for U.S. Senate, Medea Benjamin, who pointed out that the party
being held on the pier above was sponsored by entities such as the
National Rifle Association and cigarette manufacturer Philip
Morris.
Although there was a police presence as the protesters amassed
at the party’s gate on the pier, events that day were largely
peaceful, according to Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown,
a member of the Green Party.
“It’s a wonderful day. I’m proud of our
city,” McKeown said. “We’re here exercising our
free speech. Santa Monica is the place you can do that. I hope L.A.
is too.”
The next afternoon, as people assembled at Pershing Square
before marching to Staples Center, LAPD presence was evident as
thousands of officers stationed themselves at various points around
the square.
Inside, signs such as “We Have a Government of the Exxons,
By the General Motors, and For the DuPonts,”
proliferated.
State Sen. Tom Hayden, who was involved in the protests outside
the 1968 DNC in Chicago, said anything might happen, as he milled
about the crowds in Pershing Square.
“It’s like being in intensive care,” Hayden
said. “You don’t know from hour to hour how it’s
going to be.”
That night, after a concert by Rage Against the Machine outside
Staples Center, police cut power to the stage and ordered those
assembled to disperse.
When the crowd of thousands didn’t leave within 15
minutes, police let loose a volley of rubber bullets and sprayed
tear gas as cavalry officers entered the protest zone and used
nightsticks to clear the area.
The UCLA students saw plastic bottles and a smoke bomb thrown
over the fence toward Staples Center before the dispersal
order.
They then joined other protesters as they marched along downtown
streets, sitting at intersections to block traffic as drums pounded
and cars honked.
“I think my body’s about one percent water
now,” said Brian Rudiger, a former UCLA student. “And
about 70 percent pissed off.”
“Our next demos need to be in the winter,” said
Kevin Rudiger, a group member and protest organization
spokesman.
Although many protesters say the two-party system has been
corrupted by corporate influence, Wayne Meeks D-N.Y. said youthful
activism is needed, since people accept the status quo as they get
older.
“Despite the money, nothing changes without the young
people,” Meeks said. “Their activity is what changed
the course of America in the ’60s.”
Affinity group members also participated in a demonstration on
Aug. 16 involving a confrontation with police as they approached
Staples Center.
The group said police needlessly cut off a group of protesters
from the main group and didn’t allow anyone to exit, creating
a tense and frightening situation.
A similar situation occurred on Aug. 17 when police closed off
exit routes for about half an hour at the Twin Towers Detention
Center where the protesters arrested earlier in the week were being
held.
The police in riot gear eventually left the scene, allowing
people to go home, capping several days of signs, slogans, marches
and low-flying helicopters.