A tide of protest has engulfed New York during the Republican National Convention. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets, saying "No" to the Bush agenda and promoting visions of a better world.
After months of preparation, non-stop protests and direct actions accompanied the 2004 Republican National Convention which met in Madison Squre Garden. As George W. Bush was re-crowned as the party's presidential candidate, rebellious protests continued every day, despite an army of some 30,000 police, advanced weaponry and crowd control techniques which resulted in over 1,800 indiscriminate arrests.
The week of events leading up to the RNC began on Aug. 26 with a public “war crimes tribunal”, which issued a unanimous verdict of "guilty" against Bush and his administration. The same day, 11 AIDS activists were arrested after a naked protest outside Madison Square Garden, demanding that Washington help confront the epidemic in poorer countries. On the evening of Aug. 27, the monthly "Critical Mass" bike ride, which usually draws hundreds of bicyclists, grew to thousands to protest the convention. They tied up traffic and chanted anti-Bush slogans. In a sign of what was to come, police viciously attacked the bicyclist-activists, injuring some and arresting more than 260. The next day, a march for reproductive rights drew 25,000 women and men, marching over the Brooklyn Bridge to rally in front of City Hall. Many speakers denounced the Bush administration for its anti-abortion, sexist and anti-gay/lesbian attacks and its pandering to the religious right, which has spearheaded violence against women's health clinics.
The temperature rises In the sweltering heat that turned the city into the Baked Apple, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets on Aug. 29 for the week's most massive march. The demonstration had been prepared for almost a year by the United for Peace and Justice coalition. The authorities had refused to grant marchers a permit to rally in Central Park, claiming that it would “damage the grass”. So over half a million marchers packed the wide avenues of New York for six hours. They came from all walks of life, and from all over the United States. Veterans, labor unionists, students, whole extended families, seasoned anti-capitalist activists and those demonstrating for the first time in their lives – all united in the streets. And when they stepped off and marched on Madison Square Garden, the RNC site, they roared their opposition to war and occupation for empire, and to attacks on civil liberties. After the march ended, hundreds went to the forbidden grounds of Central Park and gathered there anyway. Thousands thronged in Union Square. Later that night, smaller groups of activists faced down riot police while trying to confront Republican delegates partying on Broadway and in restaurants. On Aug. 30 - the first formal day of the RNC - an estimated 10,000 people took part in the Still We Rise Coalition March udner the slogan "Fight AIDS, not Iraq!". That afternoon, a "March for Our Lives" started with a rally at the United Nations. The Poor Peoples Economic and Human Rights Campaign organized the event. When demonstrators tried to march toward 34th Street without a permit, police in huge numbers and a line of vans tried to block the protesters' forward motion. But the crowd would not stop. They chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!" Faced with this militant defiance, the police backed down and the protesters marched to Madison Square Garden. Other activists demonstrated that Republican delegates couldn't stay holed up in the convention center day and night, hounding them wherever they went. Texas delegates staying at an upscale mid-Manhattan hotel were greeted by activists posing as employees of "Hallibacon," who grunted through plastic pig snouts and rolled around in stacks of "$100 bills" with Bush and Cheney's photos on them. Demonstrators picketed outside Sotheby's auction house as members of the Tennessee delegation inside were bidding on the estate of deceased country-western singer Johnny Cash. One angry protester explained that Johnny Cash made music about "the poor and beaten down," not the ones who do the beating down.
Mass arrests On Aug. 31 the struggle in the streets erupted in widespread civil disobedience across the island of Manhattan, from Wall Street to Madison Square Garden, Union Square to “Ground Zero”. Hundreds of police were on hand to secure the blocks surrounding the New York Stock Exchange before it opened at 8 a.m. An hour later 14 activists were arrested for the "crime" of stringing a ball of yarn across the street to call attention to their anti-profits message. Police made an estimated 200 arrests at a demonstration of several thousand who marched near Ground Zero to oppose the occupation of Iraq. Once the march was underway, police unrolled orange nets to trap people and began mass arrests. Hundreds of other demonstrators surged into the streets for a "die-in." Police immediately "netted" them and began sweeping arrests. The remaining hundreds marched up Broadway, where scores were able to hold a successful action in the street just blocks from the convention center. In the afternoon, two women tried to unfurl a banner on the steps of the New York Public Library. Police wrestled them to the ground, but fellow protesters surrounded the police chanting "Oink! Oink!" Cops cordoned off the block with netting and rioted, throwing people to the ground. Police also busted anti-war demonstrators, particularly youths, as they left large rallies in Union Square. Many other protest actions took place during the day, in front of the Bureau of Immigration, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, in subways and on side streets. The drama of detentions and mass arrests was unprecedented. Police rounded up over 1,800 people during the protests – many of them mere passers-by. Hundreds were held for over 48 hours without being charged or given access to an attorney and medical attention. All the detainees had passed through the ad hoc detention center at Pier 57, dubbed “Guantanamo on the Hudson”, where they had to sleep on a floor slick with motor oil and other toxic residue. Numerous detainees complained of infections, rashes, and chemical burns. By Wednesday night, the detainees had become fed up with their treatment and began to refuse food. After a long legal battle, a judge ordered the city to release all of the detainees – which an order which was only followed when he found it in contempt and levied a fine of $1000 per person held past 24 hours. Despite the mammoth police mobilization, some protesters were able to infiltrate the RNC jamboree to deliver their militant message in person. On Sept. 1, members of the AIDS campaigning group ACT UP got within 15 feet of the stage inside the convention. Disrupting the speech of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, the activists stripped off their outer shirts to reveal t-shirts emblazoned with “Bush lies. Stop Aids. Drop the debt now.” Chanting the same message and blowing whistles, the activists succeeded in disrupting Card a minute into his speech before being thrown out by security. While RNC delegates have now returned home, protestors regroup with their sights on the November elections. On election day, activists are calling for a nationwide campaign to emphasize the power of direct action and direct democracy. Under the slogan “Don't Just (not) Vote – Get Political!”, popular assemblies and creative expressions of grassroots empowerment are being planned across the country. For full coverage see http://nyc.indymedia.org
The temperature rises In the sweltering heat that turned the city into the Baked Apple, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets on Aug. 29 for the week's most massive march. The demonstration had been prepared for almost a year by the United for Peace and Justice coalition. The authorities had refused to grant marchers a permit to rally in Central Park, claiming that it would “damage the grass”. So over half a million marchers packed the wide avenues of New York for six hours. They came from all walks of life, and from all over the United States. Veterans, labor unionists, students, whole extended families, seasoned anti-capitalist activists and those demonstrating for the first time in their lives – all united in the streets. And when they stepped off and marched on Madison Square Garden, the RNC site, they roared their opposition to war and occupation for empire, and to attacks on civil liberties. After the march ended, hundreds went to the forbidden grounds of Central Park and gathered there anyway. Thousands thronged in Union Square. Later that night, smaller groups of activists faced down riot police while trying to confront Republican delegates partying on Broadway and in restaurants. On Aug. 30 - the first formal day of the RNC - an estimated 10,000 people took part in the Still We Rise Coalition March udner the slogan "Fight AIDS, not Iraq!". That afternoon, a "March for Our Lives" started with a rally at the United Nations. The Poor Peoples Economic and Human Rights Campaign organized the event. When demonstrators tried to march toward 34th Street without a permit, police in huge numbers and a line of vans tried to block the protesters' forward motion. But the crowd would not stop. They chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!" Faced with this militant defiance, the police backed down and the protesters marched to Madison Square Garden. Other activists demonstrated that Republican delegates couldn't stay holed up in the convention center day and night, hounding them wherever they went. Texas delegates staying at an upscale mid-Manhattan hotel were greeted by activists posing as employees of "Hallibacon," who grunted through plastic pig snouts and rolled around in stacks of "$100 bills" with Bush and Cheney's photos on them. Demonstrators picketed outside Sotheby's auction house as members of the Tennessee delegation inside were bidding on the estate of deceased country-western singer Johnny Cash. One angry protester explained that Johnny Cash made music about "the poor and beaten down," not the ones who do the beating down.
Mass arrests On Aug. 31 the struggle in the streets erupted in widespread civil disobedience across the island of Manhattan, from Wall Street to Madison Square Garden, Union Square to “Ground Zero”. Hundreds of police were on hand to secure the blocks surrounding the New York Stock Exchange before it opened at 8 a.m. An hour later 14 activists were arrested for the "crime" of stringing a ball of yarn across the street to call attention to their anti-profits message. Police made an estimated 200 arrests at a demonstration of several thousand who marched near Ground Zero to oppose the occupation of Iraq. Once the march was underway, police unrolled orange nets to trap people and began mass arrests. Hundreds of other demonstrators surged into the streets for a "die-in." Police immediately "netted" them and began sweeping arrests. The remaining hundreds marched up Broadway, where scores were able to hold a successful action in the street just blocks from the convention center. In the afternoon, two women tried to unfurl a banner on the steps of the New York Public Library. Police wrestled them to the ground, but fellow protesters surrounded the police chanting "Oink! Oink!" Cops cordoned off the block with netting and rioted, throwing people to the ground. Police also busted anti-war demonstrators, particularly youths, as they left large rallies in Union Square. Many other protest actions took place during the day, in front of the Bureau of Immigration, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, in subways and on side streets. The drama of detentions and mass arrests was unprecedented. Police rounded up over 1,800 people during the protests – many of them mere passers-by. Hundreds were held for over 48 hours without being charged or given access to an attorney and medical attention. All the detainees had passed through the ad hoc detention center at Pier 57, dubbed “Guantanamo on the Hudson”, where they had to sleep on a floor slick with motor oil and other toxic residue. Numerous detainees complained of infections, rashes, and chemical burns. By Wednesday night, the detainees had become fed up with their treatment and began to refuse food. After a long legal battle, a judge ordered the city to release all of the detainees – which an order which was only followed when he found it in contempt and levied a fine of $1000 per person held past 24 hours. Despite the mammoth police mobilization, some protesters were able to infiltrate the RNC jamboree to deliver their militant message in person. On Sept. 1, members of the AIDS campaigning group ACT UP got within 15 feet of the stage inside the convention. Disrupting the speech of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, the activists stripped off their outer shirts to reveal t-shirts emblazoned with “Bush lies. Stop Aids. Drop the debt now.” Chanting the same message and blowing whistles, the activists succeeded in disrupting Card a minute into his speech before being thrown out by security. While RNC delegates have now returned home, protestors regroup with their sights on the November elections. On election day, activists are calling for a nationwide campaign to emphasize the power of direct action and direct democracy. Under the slogan “Don't Just (not) Vote – Get Political!”, popular assemblies and creative expressions of grassroots empowerment are being planned across the country. For full coverage see http://nyc.indymedia.org