Anarchists Warned
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
*****
Palo Alto Online News
Monday, June 13, 2005, 10:32 AM
Anarchists warned: Do damage, face arrest
Police Chief Lynne Johnson says announced June 25 gathering
will be closely contained with
An announced "anti-war rally" protest gathering of
anarchists in downtown Palo Alto on Saturday, June 25, will
be closely contained by police officers and any damage will
be dealt with, Police Chief Lynne Johnson warned today.
The "Anarchist Action" group has announced the gathering on
its Web site [http://anarchistaction.org/paloalto/ ], and
Johnson said it is believed the group expects between 800
and 1,000 persons to attend the event at Lytton Plaza in
downtown Palo Alto. The intent, she said, is to "inflict
economic damage," according to information they have received.
"We are instituting mutual aid, and will have a large number
of police officers available, including a San Jose horse
squad" trained in crowd control, Johnson said. She plans to
brief the City Council on preparations at tonight's meeting,
she said.
[Police, not anarchists, "instituting mutual aid"?--DC]
She said Palo Alto seems to have been chosen as the site of
the gathering "because they believe Palo Alto is a soft
target." She said the organizers may be in for a surprise,
even though two officers who had attempted to infiltrate the
group were "burned," or identified.
"We have a history (in Palo Alto) of helping people express
their First Amendment rights," Johnson told the Weekly. [By
infiltrating their groups with agents provocateurs?--DC]
"But even the ACLU does not condone people trying to do damage."
She said the Anarchist Action group seems to be based in San
Francisco and the Central Valley, and involves "people of
all ages, who try to bring in younger kids locally."
But she cautioned that, even for minors, being arrested for
and convicted of vandalism "could damage that person's
ability to get into college, and Stanford is saying that if
any Stanford student is convicted of vandalism they could
lose their ability to attend Stanford."
A "Reclaim the Streets" demonstration on May 20 resulted in
smashed windows downtown, and an attack on a police car.
There were two arrests.
An anarchist group last Friday also held its own dedication
of the "Egg" sculpture at Lytton Plaza, preceding a formal
dedication by Mayor Jim Burch and Vice Chair Gerald Brett of
the city's Public Arts Commission.
-- Jay Thorwaldson
*****
Palo Alto Online News
Saturday, June 11, 2005, 8:56 PM
Anarchists gather at "Egg" dedication
Anarchists stage alternative dedication at Lytton Plaza
by Sue Dremann
Palo Alto Mayor Jim Burch and Public Art Commission Vice
Chair Gerald Brett had to share the stage with local
anarchists at Friday evening's dedication of "Digital DNA,"
the computer circuit-board sculpture commonly called "The Egg."
Prior to the City’s official dedication ceremony, members of
Anarchist Action took center stage in downtown's Lytton
Plaza for an alternative dedication of The Egg.
Performing rap songs that railed against the "capitalist
machine" and the war in Iraq, a group of two or three dozen
mostly young people gathered in the plaza to highlight the
importance of retaining a "place for the people" in Palo Alto.
The controversial sculpture, a sort of techie Faberge-style
egg, has become a symbol to the anarchist group of keeping
Lytton Plaza as a "people's place."
Local developer Roxy Rapp and former City Councilman Leland
Levy opposed the sculpture; instead, they want to redesign
Lytton Plaza with benches and a fountain. But the anarchist
group sees the redesign as an attempt by business interests
to take away the only public spot in Palo Alto where people
can assemble for political and social discourse, the group
noted in its event fliers.
Lytton Plaza is a gathering place for a variety of groups
proffering differing points of view. It was the scene of
anti-war and other demonstrations during the Vietnam era.
Locals also use the plaza to perform live music; it's also a
hangout for local youth and some of the city's indigent
population.
E-mail Staff Writer Sue Dremann at
mailto:sdre...@paweekly.com
*****
--
Dan Clore
Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
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News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
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As the Government of the United States of America is not, in
any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in
itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or
tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never
entered into any war, or act of hostility against any
Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no
pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce
an interruption of the harmony existing between the two
countries.
-- The Treaty of Tripoli, entered into by the USA under
George Washington