Activists charged with trespassing, held for political questioning by LAPD
The Los Angeles Times today reports the arrests of some 13 activists, apparently anarchists, who are being held for police "questioning".
Their "crime"? "Trespassing" Clearly the focus of the questions won't be how they may have entered a building on Melrose Avenue to "squat." LAPD spokesman Lt. Horace Frank spelled out the cop's real concern this way. He said officers found "anti-establishment, anti-police, anti-FBI and anti-big business literature," according to the Times.
"We don't know what they were planning to do," Frank said. "They
indicated that they are anarchists and that they are here for the convention."
"We have to take them seriously. If nothing happens, nothing happens" , he said.
The Times story reflects the same concerns. It's not 'til the bottom of the report that the actual charges against the 13 are noted.
The rest of the report is focused on creating a negative picture of the activists. It makes a point to note that they were sleeping on the floor, that a number of other occupants of the building ran, escaping arrest, that their were juveniles with adults and that the adults lacked proper indentification.
Their papers were not in order. They were deviants who possesed printed materials that slandered the state and state security services. Sound familiar? All too familiar?