Shortly after the rally, as the crowds began to head out of Mc Arthur park, the police came into the park and began hassling local vendors, many of them unable to run away from the police in time. (Police and wanna-be cops in purple have been doing this in downtown for sometime now). Hundreds of riot cops rushed into the park, just as the march as left, I heard from some people that there were several people arrested.

Later, as night set in, people all over the city continued walking the streets, driving in their cars with flags hanging out of their windows, and honking. In Pico Union, the protest became more militant, some small fires were set along sixth street as well as some glass broke on one of the bus stops.

I arrived late, after someone had told me that there was a riot going on in Mc Arthur Park. When I arrived I saw the police state in action. Trucks filled with police ran up and down the street, pointing tear gas guns at the apartments and on lookers above them. Smoke filled the air and Ghetto birds circled above. “Get out of the street!” one of the cops ordered over a megaphone as I videotaped them from the sidewalk.

As we got to 6ths street we saw more lines of trucks all packed with riot police hanging off both sides. I joined with other on lookers and protesters on the corner, and all of the sudden two police cars pulled up and started watching us, telling us to move along. We walked down sixth and saw a man being arrested, when we tried to stay and make sure that he was alright, more squad cars came up and pushed us back.

At this point two squad cars began following us as we walked down the street. As we turned on to Alvarado, they turned as well. And when we turned again on Wilshire there were two other cars waiting for us. They were trying to pin us in. At this point our group tried to figure out what to do seeing as we were vastly outnumbered and worried that they would soon arrest some or all of us. A cop car sped up to the corner where we were at and the cops pretended to jump out of the car and yelled racist comments at us. Then, from behind us a group of cops started charging, “get him!” they yelled pointing to one of the more outspoken people in the group. Suddenly cops began running after the man (who was not doing anything but standing on the street). As they chased after him, one of the cops slipped and fell, dropping his baton and sending his walkie-talkie flying through the air. When one of the protesters started laughing, the cop who fell attacked the man who was laughing, ripping his shirt off his chest. At the same time twenty or so cops had thrown the man they picked from the crowd to the wall. Residents looked on from their apartments as the cops told the onlookers and people in the streets to disperse.

When the corporate media arrived they didn’t take any footage, they would listen to witness’ story of the police officer who attacked someone for laughing at them, or of the unwarranted arrest. They left and then later reported that a police officer had been injured in a fall as protestors through rocks at police. And that was the story that was reported over and over again by the racist corporate media.

This isn’t new, this is what happens everyday in communities like Pico Union, Watts, South Central, the list goes on and on. But the message that the police made is clear, “you can march in the street, you can wave American flags, you can plead to be a part of a racist country that exploits you, but don’t think about taking control of your own communities.” So until we move from marching peacefully in the streets to actually taking over our communities, we are still in occupied territory, and the police are an occupying army.

*Update on the person arrested: He has been released, but had to post $2,000 for a 20,000 bail. I’m pretty sure we was abused by the police while in jail as well. Stay posted for ways to support this soldier.

Can you provide contact info and witnesses so people can investigate more about this story?

I saw a couple clinic windows smashed. How did that happen? People should be defending the clinic.

NO JUSTICE! , NO PEACE!

in the end when you talk about taking back our lives, you are forgetting that the afternoon march was attended by hundreds of thousands of people who took back their lives by not going to work. this is radical, calm and powerful... saying that my labor is not for sale to the lowest bidder.

I agree, standing up to your boss and refusing to work is a couragous act. I think the economoc boycott and especially the strike was a powerfull symbol, but I do think that all of the ameircan flag waving yesterday, and the idea of today we march, tommorow we vote, will get us nowhere. Im not trying to ignore the importance of the events on monday, but I do think it is releavling to see where the state draws the line at "acceptable protest", go beyond that line and you see what may actually create real change. Im not advocating violence, violence is the reality already, the police state after the march on monday isnt anything new, it happens everyday. For those who had the courage to resist in whatever way they could on monday, especially those who risked the most and those who are most affected by this legistlation and who are most oppresed by this racist system I have nothing but love and respect.

the march was a great success. many american flags, with spatterings of other flags. many wore white shirts. many walked with their kids. we all walked from macarthur park to la brea. our voice was heard

as my family and i returned from la brea to our car around 6 pm, we noticed near macarthur park there were several kids wearing che guevarra t-shirts, had paint on their face, ski masks, and bandanas over their faces. many were in black (anarchists?).

many of these kids seemed to be instigating the police who were standing on the street. the police (lapd) warned them to dispersed. i noticed as this exchanged progressed, many shaved head hispanics in gang attire showed up. it was dusk nearing darkness, many marchers had gone home.

i believe the 'riot' was not against the marchers per se, but the lapd's reaction to the student/activist/inciters who were heckling the cops, plus the gangsters who mostly stayed in the background who were throwing rocks and bottles at the police (but mostly hitting other protesters).

i'm not from los angeles, but i don't think racism was the driving force here. i believe the police just feared the group i described above were going to run amok, and hence needed to be dispersed.

but, as far as the actual marchers being there, i'm confident that most of them had already gone home. most of who i saw were teenagers who were laughing at the cops, who by the way were mostly hispanics.

Marcher, clearly you are from a very privileged position in society and have never had to deal with things like police brutality which occur every hour of every day in poor immigrant communities. So you got to witness a little taste of something many people go through everyday...and what do you do, you do exactly what the people in power want you to do, you blame the victim

And if young people were instigating the cops, it would come only after years of harrassment from those same cops that would drive people to the point where they're ready to fight back...


But your opinion is clearly biased anyway since you label any person with a shaved head or a certain type of clothing as a 'gang member'...sounds like the LAPDs profiling techniques when they put every young person from a poor area on a "gang file"

if i am biased then, then you too have to admit that you are biased. because i am just describing what i saw. so are you... maybe the shaved head gangsters or let me be a little bit less biased here, shaved head youngsters with tattoos of street names or roman numerals showing hand signs had every right to be mad at the cops, but throwing bottles and rocks, which mostly hit other protestors was not called for.

and i disagree with the 'racist' angle you are presenting to those who were not there, because most of the cops i saw were blacks, hispanics and women. many were in there 20s.

many of the other marchers who walked on wilshire blvd were law abiding people who showed respect. what happened in macarthur park at night when most marchers already went home, was how i described it:

YOUNG TEENAGERS HECKLING AND THROWING ROCKS AND BOTTLES AT THE POLICE, THE POLICE WAITED FOR HOURS TO MAKE SURE ALL OTHER MARCHERS WERE CLEAR OF THE AREA, THEN THEY RESPONDED with rubber rounds (i know this becuz one of my friends who stayed to watch was hit).

as far as student/activists go, we all went to college, protests are always a cool way to release aggression, then go hang out somewhere and check out all the photos we took and talk about the hegemony and the revolution and how we 'showed' them today. nothing's changed since the 60s, my friend.

First of all, we were standing at the front facing the cops and they were neither mostly black, nor in their 20s, nor women so you're not even close. We saw two women only around 4pm. I would rather say most of the cops were white men or americanized latinos with scornful looks. At night we didn't stand there checking them out and you know what who they were is the least important thing here. We were protesting and all we did was run on the streets, we didnt instigate anyone, and even if we did, they're cops and they're the role model of society then they shouldn't be beating up drunk people and leaving them unconcious on the floor just because they yell at them. Either you like it or not THAT IS police brutality. Besides, we have the right to yell at the cops whatever we want because we have freedom of speech. Don't tell me that is "instigating" because instigating is more like pushing people for trying to cross the street like the cops did. By the way, we're Latinos and that does not make us gang members automatically; don't generalize please.

i saw what i saw, and you saw what you saw, and we are reporting it here for those who weren't there.

you are right about freedom of speech, but i'm sure freedom of speech does not cover all the rocks, bottles, batteries, and urine in plastic bottles being thrown all over the place.

the march was a success, the fiasco caused by activists, gangsters, and drunks in the park was another story.

You said:

"...the fiasco caused by activists, gangsters, and drunks in the park ..."

You lump activists with gangsters and drunks! Shame on you.

You are a liar. And I doubt you were there. Videos of the incident posted on this site and elsewhere do not back up your story.

Who cares what happened? It never got on the 9 o'clock news. People have already forgotten. The windows we broke are now fixed. and the gangsters are once again doing what they do best. And the activists are back in school, learning how to quote Chomsky, Focault, Stratski, and all the other must reads to be better arm chair "revolutionaries". and the illegals are just enjoying the fact they are not in Mexico or Guatemala or Honduras. The cops are back to their routine of eating donuts. Everybody is back to square one, woopty doo!!! Nothing's change.

"but i'm sure freedom of speech does not cover all the rocks, bottles, batteries, and urine in plastic bottles being thrown all over the place."

This claim of "urine filled water bottles" is a police story they've been telling seattle 99. They put that idea out before every massive anti capitalist demonstration since. The claim that People fill water soakers and bottles with piss is absurd. ...Even if people are militant, why would they go so far out of their way to do such a thing.

Marcher is a police provactuer (spl?) ignore him/her

is it really so hard to imagine anarchists using piss to piss off the pigs? if they can spit, they can piss. if college frat guys can do it in their own parties, how hard is it to imagine protestors doing it to pigs who are beating and gasing them?