December 22, 2001- Long Beach

A group of about forty activists, called together by a high school students from Banning High School in Wilmington, assembled at a park in Long Beach on Saturday.The rally was in support of peaceful solutions to the bombing in Afghanistan, and an end to violence. The event included singing of songs, information tables, and free exchange of ideas. Shawn McDougal, of the American Friends Service Committee, gave a rousing speech and dispersed stickers with thought provoking slogans such as " Don’t Ask Questions.Just Follow Orders. The American Way?" and "No Money for Schools. No Money for Health Care. But Money for Bombs? Stop the Corporate War Machine." It was then announced that we would descend upon the local shopping plaza to hand out the stickers and leaflets, engage people in positive discussions, and give those concerned concrete actions to take.

We marched into the plaza, led by the beat of the drum, and began to speak to shoppers going into corporate bastions like Borders, CompUSA, and Sears. Some shoppers spit and yelled, but the response was generally very positive. I had finished my leafleting and went over to the other side of the plaza, just in time to see attorney Jim DeMaegt getting arrested. A Sears customer signed a complaint, and Sears had ordered those peacefully handing out literature off the sidewalk next to their building. " I believe we have a constitutional right to freedom of speech in an area that’s open to the public. I don’t believe that right should be abrogated because of the events of 9-11," DeMaegt stated. A cameraman recording Jim’s arrest was asked to leave the area. As he was explaining that he had a press pass, he was cuffed and his headphones and camera were torn from him and placed roughly on the ground. I was closest to the scene and dove in to rescue his camera. The police began shouting at me. "I’m protecting his camera and his images!" I insisted, concerned about the possible disappearance of his footage at the police station. "Back up! He’s in our custody, it’s his property!" They barked. At which point the cameraman looked at me and said, " I’m giving you my camera. I want her to take the camera." So, I reached for it, and perhaps four cops placed their hands on me. One shoved my wrist hard into the ground. They drug both camera and man towards the police car.

The demonstrators and a dozen shoppers circled the car, some shouting, "This is what democracy looks like!" Police threatened arrest, and pushed some youth back with a baton. We reconvened at the park, now accompanied by a grand escort of police with their own recording equipment, multiple vehicles, and even a helicopter. It must have been disappointing to the fleet of officers to see us standing in an orderly circle discussing our actions and experiences. Eventually the intimidation squad left, and we headed for the police station to give support to those arrested. At the station, attorney Jim DeMaegt was released, but the cameraman was held on ,000 bail and charged with possession of a controlled substance (a Valium, which he had a prescription for.) His wife and daughter arrived to bail him out; His camera and tape have not been released to him.

Post DNC, post 9-11 the number of people willing to stand up and say NO has dwindled. The police, who should be protecting our rights, continue their tactics of terror and intimidation. George Bush says that in order to protect America we need to get out and shop. If we really want to be patriotic, we must stop shopping and start exercising our constitutional rights to protest, free assembly, and free speech.

For more information email socalpower@yahoo.com

Has the point finally been proven to all of you. WE didnt expect you to listen to us. The police have shown all of you that peacefull demonstration will not be tolerated any more than a good riot, so why not have one.

A-Day Long Beach

You might want to check out the GAP 19 arrests and aquittal in Fresno:

http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/victory.htm

:

VICTORY FOR THE GAP 19!

By Mike Rhodes

Free Speech and anti-sweatshop activists won a major victory last month when Judge Kent Hamlin dismissed all charges in the criminal proceedings against The Gap 19. Hamlin said that the trespassing charge we were accused of was being dismissed because our actions were constitutionally protected.

The arrests arose out of a demonstration at the Fashion Fair mall, which took place on May 6, 2000. On that day a small group of about 50 peaceful anti-sweatshop protesters were confronted by over 100 police officers (many dressed in riot gear), a police helicopter overhead, and the chief of police on hand to witness the arrests. While holding anti-sweatshop signs, handing out fliers to shoppers, and talking to neighbors protesters were arrested, handcuffed, and taken to a detention facility.

The problem is that the Long Beach Police and the judges in Long Beach go by there own laws when dealing with civil disobedience and protestors.. Big Buisness has such a tight grip on what goes on in Long Beach. They won;t let anything threaten the establishment. Occidental oil just off the coast owns all those oil islands Long Beach gets millions and millions of dollars from them.. Oxidental won't let these oil islands unionize.

The police in long beach are hired guns.. They have been used to train paramilitary squads (that terrorize poor people across 3rd world ccountries) and they have been known to beat up, victimize, and threaten poor people and people of color all across long beach. They are mostly x-highschool jocks and rascist white cops who police a city which is about to explode.

we shouldnt take there abuse anymore. we dont need them. and we dont need the big buisness that buys there billy clubs..

"The police have shown all of you that peacefull demonstration will not be tolerated any more than a good riot, so why not have one."

...cause the intent of the day was to promote peace?

Peace for the opressed is the goal. Asking government officials for peace will never work. If we want peace and freedom then we must take it.

..."Man's Search For Meaning". A survivor of Nazi concentration camps, he taught that the last of human freedoms, the one no fascist brutality could take from him, was his freedom to choose his attitude in ANY situation. Peace is always the choice of the individual. It is not something the police or the state can give to me or take from me. And that is freedom. Play into their reactive game of war, and they will win. And you will have strengthened their armor even more. This power to choose attitude, state of mind, response, is peace. All else is the reactive ego giving it's power away. This is the inner struggle, the true jihad in which we are engaged. This power within is where the revolution can be won, even on a sidewalk in Long Beach.

It's not just the Long Beach police. It's the LAPD too. The LAPD FREQUENTLY WORKS WITH THE LBPD. In fact, the LAPD was there on MAY DAY when the Long Beach pigs unleashed their bloody attack on us. LAPD works with all police. The Los Angeles Sheriffs Dept trained the Genoa police for the G-8 summits, which resulted in the death of a comrade, Carlo. The police state here in LA county trains police EVERYWHERE. In fact, the LAPD is a breeding ground drug smuggling as well. Operatives from the CIA/FBI work within the department to smuggle drugs into communities. Whether it's Los Angeles, New York, Cincinati ..etc..etc..etc.. This is a system of ORGANIZED crime. Therefor we must be ORGANIZED to defeat it. Insn't this the system we're fighting against? Then let's stop being passive towards it. There have been tons and tons of law suits. We are still living in a police state. And IT'S NOT GETTING ANY BETTER. We can't take the passive route all the time. Revolution is illegal. We've been kissing the system's ass, taking their legal route time and time again. They throw us a bone and we shut up. Then they fuck us over again. Enough of the bullshit already.

If we are serious about revolution, then we need to get serious about self-defense.

Fuck the police state.

The argument that "We shouldn't play their game" as reffering to not being peaceful with the enemy is ridiculous. For one being peaceful IS playing their game. Many "Peace" advocates will clap their hands when people choose reform, voting, etc. as a way of change, and that is playing their game entirely. You notice on CORPORATE media channels they report peaceful protesters as the "Good" protesters and the "violent anarchists" as the "Bad" protesters. Being that it is the corporate state we oppose, them telling us that we are "Good" is them telling us that we are obediant. Let's face reality here. Peace is something they CAN take away. If the police come rushing in the middle of a peaceful demonstration whether or not you are non-violent makes no difference, the peace has been broken, and taken away. We are living in a violent world, and all of us are committing acts of violence in this world to some degree to survive. No person is non-violent. The question is not violence or non-violence. Non-violence does not exist. No matter how many times peaceniks try to form a bubble around themselves, there is NO peace going on in this world. We CAN NOT win the revolution through non-violence. I will not be a martyr. That is ridiculous. I'm not Jesus. The question here is who would you rather see hurt, the people, or the pigs. Neither? Well wake up cos every day we are the ones being hurt, and you tell us to just take it? By that answer ask yourself who you are supporting. Moral highground is bullshit when our blood is being shed on the streets in Gothenburg, Genoa, Paupua, and Argentina. It's not time to whine, it's time to fight!

-Rampage

Southern Kalifornia Anarchist Alliance

Whenever a cop thrashes someone it looks very bad for the police; unless of course he is genuinely defending his own life and limb. Fighting the police is a losing game on the tactical level; something akin the southern states trying to achieve autonomy through war. They simply had no chance even with morally and tactically superior generals like Lee and Jackson because they didnt have the manpower or resources to defeat the north in the long term.

Also, they had the disadvantage of being the bad guys in the eyes of world opinion because of slavery. They could have won if they had european support but didnt get any because of slavery and the Union blockade. If we fight and police are seriously injured or killed, a lot of people will look at us as the bad guys. I am describing "US" as people who want an end to the corporate owned police backed state.

The police have been up until now, with notable exceptions like guliani, used rubber bullets, pepper spray, and batons;essentially non lethal devices though harmful. We are simply outgunned; We cannot, even if it were a tactical imperative, summon enough guns, body armor, and ammunition to the field to be a serious long term challenge to the cops. Furthermore, such tactics will make all of the moderates or those that would be our allies in another contingency turn against us and leave us without the popular support neccessary to sustain a war effort. Furthermore still, even if by some miracle that we can wipe out the cops, that would be the excuse the fascists need to declare martial law and call in the military where an urban guerrilla band will have no chance whatsoever against; thermal imaging technology can find us even in the dark, the military will have more men and better weapons and armor with air support.

Rather, look at the relationship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X to bring out an end to legalized segregation ( this being said with the understanding that systmic racism is still going strong if not worse than it was then ). MLK brought a great deal of real momentum through non violence to end institutional segregation while Malcolm X's fighting spirit was used as a scare tactic by the media. Finally, even MLK was a midget compared to Mahatma K Gandhi. Non violence threw the brits out of India without a shot from Gandhi's camp. Finally, rather than beating up or killing cops, we need to peacefully convince the slaves that they no longer have to serve their masters and to come down to join the struggle. We need to occupy the shops and take back what's ours through direct action, Boston Tea Party style, like real agents of liberty rather than guns and suicide bombs. If they respond with mass beatings and massacres, like they did in India, we win just like MLK's people won the second the Jim Crow stooges set their dogs and firehoses on the peaceful marchers.

The police know how to deal with violent protest. They are well equipped to deal with violence. What they cannot deal with and what drives them crazy is nonviolent noncooperation. Like Brian Wilson kneeling on the tracks of the US weapons train. He gave his legs to stop the killing of innocent Nicaraguans with our weapons. This is an extreme measure but it is one that brings attention to the problem. We really only have one choice. Are we going to act out of love or are we going to react out of hate. Simple and sensible. To react out of hate will be met with extreme prejudice and more hatred. They love it. They want this. It gives them more reason to hate and brings in more money for more war toys. But to say NO, I will not cooperate with this society as it uses my money to kill fathers, mothers and children in my name...that is powerful. They can not deal with it. This will change the world. A true revolutionary is driven by love.

I agree with the last post and it will work fast and peacefully.

1)buy no tobacco and enter no stores that sell it, I know it will be hard , but focus your anger on stop smoking , you are feeding the monster.

2) Buy no alcoholic beverages and enter no stores that sell it.

3) buy no soft drinks they are the cause of many heath troubles any way.

United as the numbers grow our power will grow.

But people must figure out how far to go because this time 20,000,000 could be to much and to many people would suffer.

I have a 100 page draft of this idea, but studys have to be made to simulate the effect and control it , we do not want to hurt the country , we just want to become what we say America is...



Free air time for free speech must be part of the constitution

The pacificists have said over and over again that to respond to police violence with revolutionary violence is playing into their hands. It has been said that the police do not know how to deal with non-violent non-compliance. Where do these people come up with such statements. It is obvious that the police know how to deal with non-violent proterters. Clubs, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and arrest.

And please stop bringing morals into this discussion. If you want to play the morality card then Ive got one to beat you. It is immoral to stand in the face of violence and do nothing to stop it from occuring. And no, sitting in the street or blocking the entrance to some bad place is not stopping the violence, nor is boycotting certain stores.

Unless we boycott everything, we are still supporting capitalism. Aint hypocracy great.

There are hundreds of millions of people in this country. There are not hundreds of millions of cops or national guard. When the polarization of U.S. society reaches a critical point we will fight and we will win. WE will win just like the viet cong won in vietnam. The U.S is defeatable.

Our job as revolutionaries here in the U.S. is to increase the polarization of society to create a revolutionary atmosphere. We choose to increase the polarization in this society thru the use of revolutionary violence. At this stage in time, defending ourselves aginst the police when they attack us will bring the support of the people who have been left out of the American Scream. The only people that will be alienated by revolutionary violence are the ones who still have a stake left in this system.

Take a look at the majority of the people who continue to preach peace in our movement. The point is made.

A-Day

Southern Kalifornia Anarchist Alliance

First, kudos to the MayDay Long Beach arrestees. Second, pacifism should be (like everything else) merely one tactic among many that is used according to its likelihood of being succesful in a particular situation. Those that are arguing that Gandhi shows that pacifism is the way to go need to consider that the British were worried that popular unrest expressed in pacifism would turn into violent revolution. Those that are arguing that pacifist tactics can never work need to consider that attacking someone much stronger than yourself is a suicide mission.

Finally, those that are arguing for pacifism need to consider that the violence is initiated by the police in most cases.

It is good that the people that were demonstrating for peace were doing that, but I think that they need to listen to the idea of self-defence. Large marches of people unwilling to initiate violence but perfectly prepared to defend themselves from the murderous, amoral swine is the way to go. Pacifists should unite with the Black Bloc!

Anyway, that's just my take. Keep it up guys.

-Phuc Hed

A historical perspective can help to teach us EFFECTIVE tactics; what has worked in the past and what hasnt? Let's look at the Paris Communes of the 19th and 20th centuries. The romantic notion from the Louise Michele Paris Commune of the 19th century is well deserved; People took the power into their own hands and threw out the bosses and authoritarians of all kinds. What historians on the left usually fail to record is that mass executions followed including not just bosses and politicians, but priests, jews, and other innocents were murdered by the communards in their frustration which brings an important note for our passionate comrade from the southern califronia anarchist alliance; Once you condone violence in a non authoritarian anti mass, how do you keep it from getting out of control? This is not to cast a shadow on the achievments of the commune which included a real peoples'autonomy and schools free of religious dogma for every child. Before only children of social standing got taught and mostly by nuns and priests. The violence that followed from the bougoisie thugs and military went like this: They simply waited outside the barricades until the communards were starved and destitute and just walked right in and massacred them all by the thousands (except Louise! and a few got away too).

The paris 'commune' of the 1960s (really the situationists and students): the workers and students just occupied the shops and schools with minimal use of force for the most part or at least not on the savage scale of the previous paris commune. There was a betrayal by the communists and union leaders to go back to wage slavery for a mere pittance. There was never a greater threat to the established order since the Spanish anarchists of the 30s. Also, there was not a massacre after it disbanded either. The point is, non violence isnt some kind of weakling kindness that lets cops and corps walk all over us, it is an effective tool for change. We want that passionate commrade from the southern california alliance et al alive and well to fight another day. To speak out again, to build and guard the barricades of the next autonomous zone. What would it profit us slaves if our brave comrade were lying in a pool of blood next to the half dozen at most dead cops he managed to dispatch before they riddled him with bullets? And what of the other innocents killed or maimed as collateral damage during the exchange? How will this aid our cause? How will this liberate us?

A better strategy is the Boston Tea Party. Simply destroy the products that the rich use to pay the cops to oppress us. Thus boycott IS effective in every way! The best way to attack the rich is in their pocket. If you kill them, it gives the cops the excuse they are waiting for to kill you. Non violence isnt mere callow morality, it's common sense! It's much harder, and thus braver to resist the urge to kill our oppressors than it is to pick up a gun and shoot at them. All of the authorities (ALL of them, that includes the communists, the Osama Bin Ladins, and yes the Che Guevaras) work on a Hegelian paradigm. Thesis and antithesis. The capitalists vs the communists, Coke vs Pepsi, Bush vs Osama Bin Laden; intentionally socially engineered divisions that demand of the common man 'which side are you on?' The beauty of non violence is that it always says the same thing at the same time as it nullifies and resists the manipulation of social engineering; "i am on the side of justice! This injustice that I am here in defiance against will not stand in the long run." Thus, MLK, medgar evers and others shatter legalized segregation by rejecting utterly the black vs white paradigm and simply resisting non violently and walking into the libraries, and restaurants, and toilet facilities without asking permission from anybody. If a single shot was fired from the protesters, if a single cop was killed, who do you think the federal marshals would be called in to defend?

There is no better time than now to organize people for an end to the corporate owned police backed state. George Dubyah and Osama have intentionally created a situation of war to distract the rest of us from the basic truth that the power is in our hands and not theirs unless we willingly give up our liberty and right to choose to their mutually illigitimate authority backed mutually by their respective daddys' oil money bought political connections. Thousands have already died, and many thousands more are and will continue to be out of work. If we respond to this latest imposed threat with a vietnam style rebellion, then they will win just as they did with the south. They will have the excuse they are looking for to declare martial law and put disenters in camps and kill anybody brave yet stupid enough to meet them on the field of battle. It's true that there are many more millions of people than there are police and national guards but luckily few of them are willing to kill to impose their beliefs. Also, they have on us what they didnt have on the vietnamese. Vast databases on everybody that so much as honked their horn in passing by a demonstration. Also, we dont have what the vietnamese had; a vast jungle and long entrenched underground network to hide in and maneuver and attack from.

The solution is direct non violent action. Take back the streets, the means of production, and throw the bosses out and refuse ever to listen to them or give in to any of their demands Boston Tea Party style. Finally, to our outspoken comrade from the southern K alliance, even if we 'won'in a vietnam style revolution, then what? The vietnam economy was irrevocably shattered by our actions there and the people are far from free. Poeple who have fought the oppressor on the field of battle and paid for it in blood tend to think that they have earned the right to lord over the rest of us and impose their polotics and economics and that only starts another Hegelian paradigm of us vs them. Fidel or Uncle Ho 'free' the workers just long enough to have an unforgettably wonderful street party followed a short time later when the honeymoon is over and we find out that we have merely played a game of dictator musical chairs.

Should I sue the Long Beach Police (and any who conspired with them) for conspiracy to violate our civil rights?

Is there evidence that on May Day and other times the Long Beach Police made agreements with others not to allow us to exercise our constitutinal right to demonstrate and pass out literature?

Or should we let this new set of arrests pass and not file lawsuits? What about publicity on this issue? is it worth the effort to organize arround this issue?

Have others been denied thier right to organize or demonstrate? Or harrassed when they do demonstrate?

Do we want to try to reopen the May Day cases for those who plead or were convicted (such as Ruckus) or is it better to let them alone?

When I mentioned earlyer 3 thing a person could do to make a change:

1)buy no tobacco and enter no stores that sell it, I know it will be hard , but focus your anger on stop smoking , you are feeding the monster.

2) Buy no alcoholic beverages and enter no stores that sell it.

3) buy no soft drinks they are the cause of many heath troubles any way.

United as the numbers grow our power will grow.

I was not talking about a violent boycott or blocking stores where people work and support their families with the little money they earn. I meant each one of us has to simply follow the 3 steps about quietly, no one can be arrested for not shopping and if the numbers of people that do this grow into the millions then change will take place or the economy will crumble and solutions will created , but any violince will not ever work (Shouting is a form of violence).

I believe that the 1st amendment needs to be re-written to include a way to apply for free airtime on a nightly Televised live or produced program available to all citizens to to petition the Government for a redress of grievances on nation media.(commercial free)

1st Amendment of US

Freedom of religion, speech, and the press; right of assembly.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Matthew

http://www.tobacconazi.com

The above post actually equates shouting with violence. The mild mannered nonsense of mere boycotting alone will do absolutely NOTHING in the long run. Case in point, there was an almost universal condemnation and real threat of boycott that ended up creating the dolphin safe tuna legislation to protect these inteligent beings. The Clinton/Gore administration's sleazy corporate whoring simply allowed the dolphin safe tuna to be labeled on dolphin killing companies. "Not Gore the environmental vice president?"-what a crock! If that isnt something to shout about, I dont know what is. And what about the Boston Tea Party? Wasnt there a lot of commercial damage that hurt businessmen like sailors, dock workers, importers? The point is that the system is evil and taxation of any kind defined as any system that takes resources away from the poor to fatten the rich for any reason whatsoever is inherantly unjust and self destructive to common humanity and must be abolished. Now, do we do this by violently attacking cops or not is the original idea of this series of posts? No, I dont think so in my opinion because that too, is self destructive to commonality. Vietnam was a common historical example used in this post and it is a good one to look at. The VC in its revolutionary zeal started to kill any intellectuals and former land owners even orndinary poor poeple who were wearing glasses. They deliberately turned the tables on the burgious/upper classes using propaganda by deed bloody violence. Are we going to kill cops, and other government workers to bring in our version of the new world order? I think the obvious answer is that would be hypocritical at best and bad tactics at best. The Boston Tea Party style propaganda by deed, however only attacks the unjust economic resource management in the best possible scenario ( im sure some people were probably killed or at least badly beaten around this incident ) If you non violently simply reappropriate what belongs to the people by direct action, that is the right thing to do. Armed insurrection in response to rights violations is crazy and overdoing it by any reasonable standard. On the other hand, if we try to assert our rights and they kill us, that is a different matter. Fuck the Tien Amin Moaists for example. We should start thinking about killing cops only when cops kill us, not when they act like assholes and stop us from leafleting in a mall. But shouting=violence? Dont shut down the WTO/corporate chains of every stripe for the sake of 'being considerate' to the exploited workers that cant speak for or defend themselves for fear of being fired or worse? give me a break!

Dear Fellow Americans

Remember, George Washington didn't win our independance from Britain with harsh words and passive resistance.

War will probably win out as the Multinational Corporations are ruling the industrial world. Corporations aren't even a person but they have more rights than you and I. I've seen these supression type tactics used first hand with Northern CA Earth First! in trying to save old growth Redwoods. They are in their 12th year of struggle with Maxxam Corporation who took over Pacific Lumber 13 years ago... It appears to me that all of our serious environmental issues are linked with corporate GREED.

thats just what the authorities want us to do so they can respond with violence...we need to keep our positive attitudes without violence.