Series of EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning Civil Disturbances (Anti-capitalist) During the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, PA: 09 July 2000 to 05 Aug 2000
Excerpted from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Saturday, August 5, 2000-Vol. 4, No. 218
PHILADELPHIA
Authorities Get Tough With So-Called "Activists"; Battle Now Moves To the Court Room
Authorities on Friday decided to get tough with malcontent "demonstrators" who travel around the country with no real causes other than to create mayhem. Philadelphia authorities have charged the leaders of several prominent "professional rioting training groups" of orchestrating property damage and violence during the Republican National Convention and in other cities around the country.
A leader of the Berkeley, California-based Ruckus Society, who is being held on $1 million bail, is among up to six prominent e "activists" arrested this week during sometimes violent demonstrations. Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney said on Friday: "There's a cadre, if you will, of criminal conspirators who are about the business of planning conspiracies to go in and cause mayhem and cause property damage and cause violence in major cities in America that have large conventions or large numbers of people coming in for one reason or another."
Police presented evidence and photographs of items Timoney said were intended to hurt officers during the convention. Among the items displayed were gasoline-soaked rags tied to chains that police said were similar to ones used by Seattle protesters, who set them on fire and flung them over a large crowd.
In addition to the Ruckus Society, police singled out the leaders of Philadelphia's ACT UP, the nation's largest chapter of the national AIDS advocacy group, and of Philadelphia Direct Action Group, an affiliate of the Asheville, North Carolina-based Direct Action Network. Police did not name the "activist" leaders singled out as the primary organizers. But police confirmed that the alleged gang leaders are facing the most serious charges and have been assigned the highest bails.
John Sellers, age 33, a leader of the Ruckus Society, was reportedly being held on $1 million bail for misdemeanors including conspiracy, reckless endangerment and other related charges. Terrence McGuckin, a leader of Philadelphia ACT UP, also was reportedly being held on $500,000 bail for numerous misdemeanors. Two men accused of felony assault on an officer, including a 20-year-old male, who is charged with hitting the police commissioner with a bicycle, were each charged with felony assault on an officer and being held on $500,000 and $450,000 bail.
Lawyers for the ACLU and supporters of activist organizations called the arrests of the demonstration leaders "illegal" and said that police were engaging in "preventative detention." Lawyers for the protestors said that they were going to file a "writ of habeas corpus" and take other legal action to get reduced bail for the jailed activists.
09:00CDT - 03 Aug 2000
PHILADELPHIA, PA
With more than 300 activists still in jail, and many more camped outside city hall waiting for them, protests aimed at the Republican convention were quiet and peaceful on Wednesday, a day after demonstrators clashed with police and snarled traffic. A few small protests popped up around town. The quiet demonstrations were in contrast to Tuesday evening's mayhem.
09:00CDT - 02 Aug 2000
PHILADELPHIA
Some Convention Protesters Desire Police Battle
After a day marked by angry brawls with police, protesters licked their wounds and began drawing up plans to disrupt traffic for the remaining two days of the Republican National Convention. Police Commissioner John Timoney was slightly injured on Tuesday in clashes between police and protesters. Some protesters acknowledged that they baited police into fighting and will continue to do so. Police said 280 people were arrested throughout the city Tuesday, most for misdemeanors, but ten were charged for assaulting police.
Five officers were injured in the protests, including two who were sprayed in the face and eyes with an unidentified liquid. Another policeman was knocked down by a protester. About 20 police patrol cars and other vehicles were damaged, including broken windows.
Switching tactics from the peaceful marches and rallies of the last two days, political activists linked arms and blocked key intersections and freeway entrance ramps in the city center, but staying well away from the Republican convention hall.
Police also raided a brick warehouse in the western part of the city where they believed activists were making and storing equipment to be used in the protests, hauling away in plastic handcuffs about 80 protesters inside.
Police also shut down portions of several downtown streets to contain the activists. About 85 demonstrators were taken into custody in the city center area. At a freeway ramp near downtown, about a half-dozen protesters blocked the roadway by locking their arms inside sealed plastic tubes, forcing police to saw off the pipes and blocking the ramp for hours.
At a key downtown intersection near City Hall, protesters linked arms and blocked traffic, chanting: "Who's streets? Our streets. That is what Democracy looks like." Police moved in and made at least 60 arrests at the site, dragging protesters away from the intersection. Police were out in force throughout the downtown area, vastly outnumbering protesters at most locations. There was also heightened police activity around the downtown hotel where vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney is staying.
22:00CDT - 01 Aug 2000
More than 250 Arrests As Protestors Try to Close City Streets
Philadelphia, PA (EmergencyNet News) -- Police this evening are saying that more than 250 people have been arrested in today's civil disturbances. Many were arrested as they linked arms and blocked main intersections. ERRI analysts said that protestors used what were described as "flying squads," involving small groups of masked protestors, who were seen engaging in guerilla "hit-and-run" tactics, including property damage and other miscellaneous mischief.
Two police officers were taken to Hahnemann University Hospital for treatment after they were reportedly sprayed with some sort of toxic liquid. At least three other officers were also injured, including one with a possible concussion. Several protestors also reported injuries after they traded blows with police.
At least 20 police cars have been vandalized and some small arson fires have been set. Sporadic confrontations continue between police and protestors at several locations at the time of this report. EmergencyNet News continues to monitor events in Philadelphia and will provide updates as circumstances warrant...
17:30CDT - 01 Aug 2000
Civil Disturbances Begin in Earnest; Several Intersections Blocked
Philadelphia, PA (EmergencyNet News) -- According to both emergency service and press sources, tensions have increased this afternoon as protestors escalated their efforts to snarl rush-hour traffic and prevent delegates from getting to evening sessions of the Republican National Convention. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that as many as six center city intersections were blocked at various times by the demonstrators, including 12th and Arch, Broad and Pine and Broad and Spruce Streets and 18th and Arch. ERRI analysts called the latest actions a "coordinated and dispersed attempt at disruption," by the protestors. An unknown number of arrests have been made as police attempted to clear intersections. No injuries have so far been reported.
14:50CDT - 01 Aug 2000
Police Raid Alleged "Anarchist" Warehouse
Philadelphia, PA (EmergencyNet News) -- A police raid is reportedly underway at this hour in the vicinity of 41st Street and Haverford Avenue. According to emergency service sources, police are acting on a search warrant and believe that they will recover materials such as "sleeping dragons" -- large pipe-like devices that protesters use to block intersections and disrupt traffic. No further information on the police activity was immediately available.
31 July 2000
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Protests began in earnest on the fringes of the Republican convention on Saturday featuring a dizzying array of causes from supporters of gun control and more affordable health care, to opponents of abortion and advocates of sexual abstinence. Hundreds of people were evacuated from a hotel on the outskirts of Philadelphia on Saturday after a ticking box was discovered in a conference room. City police dispatched a bomb squad team at about Noon EDT and officers used a remote-control robot to examine the box, only to discover that it was full of clocks. Investigators said they suspected the incident was a prank...
28 July 2000
PHILADELPHIA
Police Say They Are Set For Convention
According to Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney on Thursday, his department is ready for any massive demonstrations that are being planned during the Republican National Convention. He said that he hopes to avoid the police clashes that marred the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle last November.
Timoney said his department expected to have one police officer on duty for every five demonstrators throughout the week. Police will go to full readiness on Friday afternoon at 16:00EDT, three days before the convention formally opens, meaning police will begin 12-hour shifts, with no vacations or days off.
Deputy Commissioner Robert Mitchell, who has been coordinating security, said the first demonstrations will begin Saturday with a march for universal health care. He said there will be a major rally on Sunday, called "Unity 2000," which will have speakers from labor unions, women's rights groups, gay and lesbian organizations and others. Mitchell said that the event has a permit, but police intelligence has indicted some unauthorized actions may also occur. In mid-afternoon the NAACP is also holding a separate march.
Sunday will also bring an opening ceremony across the river in Camden, New Jersey, with Governor Christine Whitman. Local demonstrations can be expected.
On Monday, the first day of the convention, Mitchell said the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) plans an unauthorized march from City Hall south to the arena in South Philadelphia where the convention is being held. Mitchell said that event has not been approved by police because they want to walk down Broad Street, the main avenue leading from the center of the city to the convention center. He said police had tried to reach an accommodation with the KWRU that would have them march on the sidewalks, but there had been no agreement reached. The march may bring clashes between police and demonstrators.
Timoney said officers had been told they "must take verbal taunts, verbal abuse. Any verbal barrage that comes their way they must take." Supervisors have been told to remove officers on the front lines who appear ready to lose their tempers. Timoney also said that any use of tear gas would have to be approved by him, or Mitchell, or another senior officer.
The commissioner said: "We will take immediate police action only when there is an emergency, where criminal activity is afoot, whether it is an assault on a police officer or serious property damage. In all other situations where it's protestors passively resisting, or sitting in an intersection ... in those situations where there isn't an emergency, there isn't a need to rush, so great thought will be given to the tactics employed..."
22 July 2000
PHILADELPHIA, PA:
Authorities Get Ready For GOP Convention
Police in Philadelphia are making final arrangements this week for the Republican National Convention, including plans to use jail cells in the suburbs for the hundreds of demonstrators who may be arrested. Police officials scheduled two meetings with protest groups this week, including a session Friday with the Philadelphia Direct Action Group to try to smooth concerns over violence and vandalism during demonstrations.
Though questions still remain about how many protesters will arrive in the city the first week of August -- 10,000 to 20,000 are currently expected -- police are planning for a possible worst-case scenario. That could mean more than 1,000 arrests. City and federal courts will be closed during the convention, from 31 July to 3 August. However, at least two municipal court judges will be available to arraign demonstrators who are arrested. More judges would be available if necessary.
Up to 400 people can be detained at downtown police headquarters, where nearly all demonstrators must be brought for processing. If more are arrested -- as most organizers expect -- they will be photographed, fingerprinted and information about them entered into computers downtown then moved to other facilities, including Holmesburg Prison northeast of Philadelphia.
09 July 2000
PHILADELPHIA:
Protest Group Plans Training For GOP Convention
The activist-trainer "Ruckus Society" is reportedly teaching people how to plan effective and media-friendly demonstrations. The Berkley, California-based group has trained more than 2,500 people since it was founded in 1995. Ruckus plans at least two weekend-long sessions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before this August's conventions, and dozens of Ruckus alumni are holding smaller sessions nearly every day the rest of the summer.
About 50 people from around the Northeast attended a recent session targeted to poor and minority people taking part in demonstrations. Instead of teaching effective ways to stop loggers or how to climb a billboard, the training sessions focus was on legal rights, ways to react to supposed police aggression and how to prepare TV-ready sound bites. About half the participants were reportedly black or Asian, and all but a handful were less than 25 years old...
ERRI analysts are currently working on both tactical and strategic implications of possible civil disturbances that are scheduled for both the Republican and Democratic conventions later this Summer.
29 July 2000- OP/ED "Damned If They Do and Damned
If They Don't"; Police Will be Blamed For Any Problems That Occur at Upcoming Conventions21 Apr 00- Series of ERRI/EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning A-16 Anti-Capitalist Protests in
Washington, DC: 10 Apr 2000 to 17 Apr 2000 (with related Supplemental Reports and Advisories)© EmergencyNet News Service, 2000. May be redistributed to bona-fide
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