The SONORAN ACTIVIST NETWORK NEWS - FROM LA DNC - 8.17

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- SANN DNC UPDATE FOR-8.17

- NEWS FROM THE ARIZONA MEDIA ON DNC

LOS ANGELES -- Ed. note: unfortunately the AZ Republic story (mainly from AP wire) hypes up clashes. It is not representative of most of the street actions in LA that SANN has witnessed.

Jailed Tucson activist John Hardenbergh was not involved in any violence (SANN witnessed his peaceful arrest yesterday). John is reportedly being held in the "twin towers" jail downtown for his inspiring stand against police brutality. He is supposed to meet with lawyers from the Midnight Special Law Collective today and hopefully will be released soon. More news on John as it breaks.

Today's actions included a lively environmental march on Citigroup Corporation, a notorious investment firm which funds destructive development projects worldwide. This afternoon features big marches across downtown against sweatshop labor, INS, and the US Navy's violations against people and the environment on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. Tonight thousands of activists will gather adjacent from the Staples Center in a musical candlelight ceremony during Gore's speech.

Activists remain strong and articulate despite a "brownout" by the major media. Protesters face the intimidating "blue wall" of LAPD wherever they go. The threat of extreme police violence lies just beneath the surface at all protests and marches.

For detailed up to the minute coverage of actions at the DNC please visit:

http://www.la.indymedia.org

AZ activists will report live from LA today around 4:30 pm on KXCI 91.3 FM Tucson. DNC coverage with updates from AZ activists can also be heard on KNST 910 AM Radio in Tucson and across southern Arizona.

Daniel Patterson

reporting for SANN from inside the DNC

roundriver@hotmail.com

520.906.2159 mobile in LA

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THE TUCSON CITIZEN

August 17, 2000

Arizona Sonora Justice Alliance among protesters

The dissidents point to corporate money, which they say runs both parties.

Not all the Arizonans who traveled to Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention are there to sing the praises of Vice President Al Gore or his running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

About 100 members of the Arizona Sonora Justice Alliance have taken to the streets of Los Angeles to speak out against the corporate influence on American politics, participating in rallies and protests to get their point across.

"We represent about 30 groups and we're out here mainly because we're demanding change," said Tucson ecologist Daniel Patterson, 29. "A lot of people are looking at what we're being offered. It's either a nickel here or a dime there. There's no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. Two weeks ago they held their show in Philadelphia and this week they're here with the same corporations running the show."

Members of the ASJA hope their civil action will bring a voice to politics that reflects the concerns of citizens, not monied corporations, Patterson said.

"We want to see more (candidates) that reflect working people. We want to see more choices for fair trade. We want to see more choices who care about the environment," he said.

The protesters have been able to get their point across to many audiences, including the delegates, Patterson said.

"We were able to get some credentials to get inside (the convention) and there was some interest in what we were saying," he said. "There's still some grass-roots interest in the party to see some change."

Patterson maintains the progressive element of the Democratic Party "has really eroded under Clinton-Gore."

Patterson said the police presence working to ensure the convention isn't disrupted is formidable.

"It's pretty impossible for anybody to do anything out of the norm with the massive police deployment here in L.A.," he said. "I've never seen anything like it before and I was in the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle."

WIth LAPD operating "on a hair-trigger" numerous protesters already have been arrested, Patterson said.

Tucsonan John Hardenbergh was among about 25 protesters arrested yesterday during a sit-down protest in front of the Rampart Police Station.

The protesters were jailed and charged with obstructing a public agency, said Rachel Wilson, a spokeswoman for the ASJA.

About 20 members of the group also picketed the Pima County Democratic Party offices on Broadway yesterday.

"Both parties are just puppets of the multinational corporations and the result is that we have trouble with the environment, the working people, the poor, issues with sweatshops," Wilson said. "It all comes down to the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are the same and it's because of corporate money."

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THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Police, convention protesters clash

Republic staff and wire reports

August 17, 2000

LOS ANGELES - Police clashed with bottle-throwing protesters Wednesday outside the Democratic National Convention after 2,500 demonstrators marched to the site denouncing police brutality.

An altercation broke out as officers tried to get a truck through an intersection the protesters had blocked. The protesters began throwing bottles and other objects at the police, who then charged with batons. Several rubber bullets were fired.

Among the protesters arrested Wednesday was Tucson activist John Hardenbergh, who was part of a march against police brutality outside a Los Angeles police division.

Daniel Patterson, spokesman for the 80-member Arizona-Sonora Justice Alliance, said the march was against "the erosion and silencing of free-speech rights in the face of a massive police deployment in LA, and also at the RNC (Republican convention) in Philadelphia."

It was unknown late Wednesday where Hardenbergh was jailed.

The alliance of Arizona activists claims to represent 30 environmental, labor and border-rights groups in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Prescott.

Protesters have been marching for various causes here since last weekend, mostly peacefully, watched by hundreds of law-enforcement officers. In fact, during Wednesday evening's standoff speakers on the official protest stage nearby continued, denouncing the federal case against Wen Ho Lee, the Los Alamos scientist.

The convention city arrest total was near 200 through Wednesday, but significant violence was limited to a clash after a rock concert at the protest site Monday night.

Wednesday's demonstration started as a march to police headquarters, then proceeded to the convention site. On the way, helmeted officers carrying batons stood two-deep.

Delegates said some demonstrators tried to grab their convention credentials.

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