Sunday, August 24, 2008
Broad Array of Protesters Seek Both To Influence and Infuriate
This loose amalgamation of groups has two main missions for convention week. They want to bring their various messages to the attention of delegates from around the country in an effort to influence discussion within the party. And they hope to use the convention as a catalyst for reviving activist movements across the country.
Spokesmen for several of the protest groups say they have taken their inspiration from the anti-Vietnam War generation and hope to rekindle the spirit of that era. Others want to take advantage of the convention to bolster their movement’s infrastructure.
Several dozen protesters from various groups marched down Denver’s 16th Street mall Sunday, chanting slogans such as “Bush lied, people died,” and “This is what Democracy looks like.”
Most Denver residents reacted to the demonstration with a mixture of amusement and admiration, although some resented “outsiders” clogging their downtown area with noise.
“I’m here in the hope that people will take care for others the rights that we are fond of enjoying,” said Natalia Haberl, a Denver college student.
The police on scene declined to comment on the record but said that there had been no major disturbances thus far.
The protesters are aligned with groups such as United for Peace and Justice, Progressive Democrats of America, the Alliance for Real Democracy, Code Pink and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).
And while they generally support Barack Obama ’s presidential candidacy, they stress that they are coming to Denver to draw attention to their causes and don’t feel any responsibility to toe the party line.
“For us, putting the pressure on Democrats is what we feel can do the most good,” said Jared Hood, regional coordinator for IVAW. “They’re the most likely ally to help us, but if that pressure is not there, we can easily be ignored. We’re trying to put ourselves in a position where our voices are heard.”
Their tactics are expected to range from peaceful, music-filled gatherings to guerrilla street theater that is meant to shock the public consciousness. Some groups have vowed to cause disturbances at the convention, raising the specter of confrontations with the police and mass arrests.
Anti-War Protests Planned
With the ongoing Iraq war on most protesters minds, IVAW is among the protest groups that will focus their fire on the demand that Democrats do more to bring the troops home.
Broad Array of Protesters Seek Both To Influence and Infuriate
These protesters see their role as trying to move the Democratic Party toward a more strident anti-war position. Many groups think that Obama’s 16-month timeline for withdrawing troops is too long, while others oppose his proposal to send more troops to Afghanistan.
“What we’re doing at the DNC is highlighting that the Democratic Party was elected into the majority in 2006 to put pressure on the Bush administration . . . and they haven’t done that,” said Hood.
One of their priorities will be to shine a light on what it alleges are the effects of Bush administration policy overseas.
IVAW’s Tuesday event, “Operation First Casualty,” will have veterans in full battle dress pretending to abuse volunteers dressed as Iraqi civilians, to show the public “all of the brutality that American soldiers are trained to treat Iraqi civilians with.” This exercise will include mock arrests, boots on backs, and racial name calling, Hood explained.
IVAW members will conduct “patrols” throughout Denver. To skirt the rules on protest permits, IVAW classifies its show as “guerrilla street theatre performance,” which is protected under a different section of the law.
Amnesty International plans to erect a cell it says is based on those used to house prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Phillip Carter, the Obama campaign’s national veterans director, said that although the campaign is not working directly with the anti-war groups, their participation is welcome, even if it is misdirected.
“We support their right to speak out and are glad these veterans are embracing the opportunity that the convention provides,” said Carter, “But we would hope they would direct the majority of their efforts at the Republican Party, which is responsible for the war in Iraq and the policies they seek to change.”
Frank Bessinger, a representative of Veterans for Peace, saw it a little differently.
“I don’t think Obama’s fully committed to ending the war,” he said.
Rekindling the Spirit of the 1960s
Several groups will join together to organize a week-long program of concerts, lectures, information sessions, marches, and other events designed to entertain and educate the 100,000 visitors who are expected in Denver during the convention.
Tent State University, a play on Kent State University in Ohio, where National Guardsmen opened fire and killed four students in May 1970, is an umbrella organization of groups planning a constant presence throughout the week.
Broad Array of Protesters Seek Both To Influence and Infuriate
The group will offer free “courses” taught by prominent liberal figures, including presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Green Party presidential candidate and former Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney (1993-2003; 2005-2007), and Mark Rudd, a leader of the 1960s radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and a founder of the violent Weather Underground.
Rudd is expected to steer protesters away from the violent tactics he embraced in the 1960s, focusing instead on non-violent forms of protest.
Organizers say they also hope to use the convention to establish a Denver chapter of a resurrected SDS.
Conservative media will surely seek to link such radical groups with Obama and the Democratic Party, and Rudd’s presence could help: Obama has already faced criticism for his relationship with unrepentant former Weather Underground member William Ayres.
Protest organizers say it is not their responsibility to protect Obama’s image.
“I don’t really care who the media ties Obama to. That’s his problem, not mine,” said Joanna Pease, a spokeswoman for Tent State at the DNC.
But most protest groups aim to conduct activities in which convention delegates can participate. They have set their sights on state delegations with liberal constituencies, such as those from New York and California.
“There’s this idea that being a delegate and being a demonstrator are exclusive of each other, so we’re trying to create an environment where you can be against the war and then also be a delegate,” Pease said.
The first major event was a Sunday march entitled “Funk the War,” where five groups converged for a concert on Denver’s 16th Street Mall.
Code Pink, the women’s group that gained notoriety for interrupting congressional hearings on the Iraq war, sent 80 members to Denver and will highlight the effects of Iraq on the environment with their “War is not green” campaign, which will include bike rides around the city.
“It ties the green sustainability movement to the anti-war movement,” aid Zoe Williams, Code Pink’s convention coordinator.
Forty Years Later
While all the protest groups share an animosity toward the current administration, not all of them get along with each other.
Broad Array of Protesters Seek Both To Influence and Infuriate
One umbrella group, called ReCreate 68, has provoked some ire among other groups because of its harsh rhetoric.
Other confrontational groups, including DNC Disruption 08 and Unconventional Denver, plan to try to crash delegate and lobbying parties, block traffic and “reclaim the public space.”
But while the fringe groups have the ability to cause disruptions, most of the activists in Denver oppose such tactics.
“All of that was awesome in the 60s, but that had its time and place,” said Pease, “ But 2008 and 1968 are not the same.”
Designated Protest Areas, Holding Pens
The decision by convention organizers to designate a space for protests on the opposite side of the media tents near the Pepsi Center has provoked anger among protest organizers, who have vowed to disobey such restrictions by holding mock sleep-ins at sites outside the protest perimeter.
“I have an issue with the cage that free speech is being quarantined to,” said Code Pink’s Williams, who pointed out that the space violates the DNC’s promise that protesters would be granted a spot within sight and sound of the convention.
“I don’t see how delegates are going to be able to see or hear the messaging that the groups have to offer,” she added.
Protest groups also are upset about a warehouse on the northeast side of Denver that has been designated as a detention center for anyone arrested during the convention.
Some activists have dubbed the warehouse “Gitmo on the Platte,” after the South Platte River that runs through Denver.
Protest groups have been meeting regularly with the Denver Police Department, the mayor’s office, the U.S. Justice Department, and other agencies to establish a base of communications and head off any misunderstandings.
Law enforcement has received a $50 million grant to spend on security surrounding the convention.
The majority of those funds will be used to reimburse local police departments for overtime pay for the hundreds of extra policemen on the streets throughout the week.
Broad Array of Protesters Seek Both To Influence and Infuriate
Of the remaining funds, more than $1 million will be spent on physical barricades, about $850,000 for crowd control equipment, $725,000 for processing and holding arrestees, and about $3.5 million to buy new police and fire vehicles, according to a document provided by the Department of Safety.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
