Series of EmergencyNet
News Real-time reports Concerning MayDay 2K Protests
21 Apr 2000 to 02 May 2000
ERRI SPECIAL REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Tuesday, May 2, 2000
SUMMARY-MAY DAY PROTEST REPORTS
ENGLAND
A
McDonald's fast food restaurant was attacked by masked demonstrators
during an anti-capitalist protest in London on Monday. One
"bobby" was hit by a flying brick and two others were injured as
a crowd smashed every window in the restaurant located in the Whitehall
section of the city.
A neighboring souvenir shop also came under attack. Twelve people were arrested. Riot police sealed off Parliament Square to prevent protesters from entering or leaving the area. Thousands had gathered at the spot to "reclaim urban spaces" by planting seeds.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mike Todd said the demonstrations had started peacefully but he was forced to change policing tactics after officers were attacked with "missiles, iron bars and scaffolding." He also said: "These were a minority but they were thugs, not demonstrators, it's an absolute disgrace. I know of one police officer who had a brick thrown in his face and others who were beaten to the ground. The staff in the McDonald's which was completely destroyed must have been terrified as they were there just trying to earn a living."
A passer-by who witnessed the attack on the restaurant described how protesters stormed the building armed with bricks, hammers and batons. The witness said: "A gang appeared out of nowhere and charged straight into the restaurant. Within seconds it looked like a bomb had gone off inside with glass spraying out onto the street. Nothing inside was left untouched and people who were just in the area ran away screaming."
Elsewhere, one protestor jumped on to a police van while a statue of Winston Churchill was defaced with graffiti. Some activists scaled a 40-foot lamp post skirting Parliament Square and others climbed up traffic lights. One shaven-headed protester dived naked into a pond created by demonstrators who had dug a hole in the center of the square.
Many of the protesters in London had dressed in colorful carnival-type costumes. But a smaller, more sinister number were wearing balaclava helmets and masks. In Manchester, northwest England, police said 200 demonstrators targeted various shops and offices with rocks and bottles, and at one point brought the city's central train system to a halt. Twenty protesters were arrested.
A huge police presence, backed up by 30 mounted officers and a police helicopter, kept the protesters contained in small areas and then led them from the city center. Three police officers and nine civilians were taken to the hospital and nine other policemen suffered minor injuries. Police said 95 people were arrested.
GERMANY
May Day brought marches and scattered violence in other cities around the world as well. Neo-Nazis fought anti-fascist protesters in the German capital Berlin and leftists clashed with police in Hamburg. More than 200 police officers and many demonstrators were hurt in the most violent May Day clashes in Berlin for more than a decade, and about 400 people were arrested.
Leftists and anarchists fought pitched battles with police for about two hours in the Kreuzberg district on Monday night. Riot police used water cannons, clubs, tear gas and shields to disperse several hundred protesters after some started fires and threw rocks. No figures for injured protesters was available.
In Hamburg, protesters marked May Day by throwing stones at banks, broking shop windows and setting fire to cars. Twenty-one police were hurt, including one whose arm was broken. Leftists said 25 protesters were hurt. Officials there said they detained 123 people.
POLAND
Polish riot police moved in to restore order in Gdansk after skinheads threw eggs full of red paint at May Day marchers. In Warsaw, leftist marchers hurled eggs at anti-communist hecklers.
RUSSIA
In Russia, where for decades May Day was marked by colossal workers' marches choreographed by the communist state, tens of thousands joined rallies. But protests were smaller than previous post-Soviet gatherings. Some 7,000 mostly elderly Bulgarians, many of them supporters of the largely ex-communist Socialist Party, rallied in Sofia to protest against poverty and what they called the corruption of the center-right government.
TURKEY
Tens of thousands of Turks took to the streets for protests largely directed against the International Monetary Fund. Thousands demonstrated peacefully in Indonesia, some against economic policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund.
SWITZERLAND
In Switzerland, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at so-called "revolutionary" protesters who smashed windows and damaged cars at a BMW showroom during a May Day march in Zurich. Riot police also used water cannon to disperse the crowd of masked youths, who staged a separate march to the main parade in the center of the city which had passed without any trouble.
Several hundred people participated in the unofficial second May Day parade, organized by "Revolutionaerer Aufbau" (revolutionary construction). One policeman was slightly hurt and several of the demonstrators needed medical attention. The second parade started uneventfully to the throng of carnival music but deteriorated at about 1400 hours Zurich time when stones were thrown at the district court building after rallying cries of "International Solidarity." Several youths were arrested.
UNITED STATES
May Day does not hold much signifigance in the United States because its traditional Labor Day occurs during the month of September. But in Chicago about 200 professional protesters chanted against corporate greed and global capitalism in a driving rain outside the Chicago Board of Trade in a non-violent May Day demonstration. Most passer-bys looked upon the demonstrators with disdain. Extra security was in place around the LaSalle Street financial district and it was business as usual inside the exchange. The Board of Trade did close its visitors gallery to prevent any incidents with the wide-ranging coalition of professional protesters who marched under the May Day Coalition banner.
The coalition included many of the same groups that caused violence in the streets of Seattle and Washington this year in protests against the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. A large contingent of well-armed police watched as the professional protesters rallied at LaSalle and Jackson streets. The May Day celebration must not had gone too well for the protesters since they quit earlier than their projected 1400 CDT end time. For the most part, nobody paid any attention to them.
Elsewhere in the United States, police in riot gear broke up a protest by hundreds of workers rights supporters in downtown Portland, Oregon. In Olympia, Washington, several hundred demonstrators blocked one of the city's busiest intersections to protest global corporations. And in New York City, more than 1,000 immigrants protested outside City Hall.
(See Philippines and S. Korean reports below)
20:00CDT - 01 May 2000
Running Skirmishes Between Anarchists and Police Continue Into The Night In London
London, England (EmergencyNet News) -- Reports of sporadic clashes between alleged anarchists and riot-equipped police officers continued into the night in London. Reports suggest that more than 65 people have been arrested for a variety of offenses. More than a fair amount of property damage has also been reported as protestors smashed car and business windows in several areas and painted buildings and monuments with graffiti. No official estimates of damage were immediately available. At least ten people, including several police officers were injured badly enough to be hospitalized.
*****
12:30CDT - 01 May 2000
Molotov Cocktails; Weapons of Choice in S. Korean MayDay Protests
SEOUL, S. KOREA (EmergencyNet News) -- Leftist student radicals reported hurled more than a hundred firebombs at police this evening (Monday) in violent clashes outside Korea University. More than 150 students have been arrested today and dozens were said to have suffered injuries of varying seriousness as student protestors attempted to march towards the central part of Seoul. Thousands of riot police were deployed in an attempt to control the worst disturbances that S. Korea has seen for several years.
*****
11:00 CDT - 01 May 2000
Violence Reported in London
London, England (EmergencyNet News) -- Violence has been reported today as "anti-capitalist" rallies continue in London, England. A McDonald's fast food restaurant and a nearby souvenir shop have been reportedly been completely "trashed" by protestors. Several injuries and arrests have been reported by Metro police. EmergencyNet News continues to monitor events in London, Berlin, New York City,and several other cities where MayDay protests are said to be taking place...
*****
09:30CDT - 01 May 2000
GERMANY:
May Day Violence Reported In Hamburg
Officials said 12 police officers and an unknown number of protesters were injured as leftists clashed with police in the port city of Hamburg early on Monday. It was the first reported May Day violence that was feared to happen across Germany today. Protesters threw stones at banks, broke shop windows and set fire to several cars in the city center after midnight. Police charged the demonstrators and one officer suffered a broken arm. Three other policemen were treated in a hospital.
Authorities across Germany were bracing for trouble on Monday, and a total force of more than 6,000 police deployed across the capital, Berlin. Reinforcements guarded government buildings in the city center. Authorities were especially concerned about an approved neo-Nazi demonstration in a section of east Berlin...
*****
09:30CDT - 01 May 2000
PHILIPPINES:
Violent May Day Protest In Manila
In a May Day protest near the presidential palace in Manila, at least ten people were injured when police used truncheons and water cannons to disperse thousands of stone-throwing demonstrators. Seven of the estimated 12,000 protesters, who were demanding the resignation of President Joseph Estrada, were arrested. The clashes took place on a bridge about 300 yards from the palace when some protesters tried to break down a police barricade of steel railings and barbed wire.
21 Apr 2000
MayDay 2K: In The "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" Department
By C. L. Staten, Sr. National Security Analyst
Even as the tear-gas settles from skirmishes in Washington, DC, "anti-capitalist" protestors are already gearing up for the next round of demonstrations and civil unrest. This time, the major action will be centered in London, England and the activities are scheduled to start on April 28th and culminating with the largest actions on 01 May 2000. The occasion this time is a holiday traditionally celebrated by Communists/Socialists...MayDay 2K.
There does appear to be a schism within the protests ranks, however. It would appear that some of the protest organizations have changed the name from an "anarchist" to "anti-capitalist" festival. According to sources within the protest community the "anti-capitalist" label is thought to be "more inclusive" and "socially acceptable" than "anarchist," which may have negative connotations (Ed. note: Yeah, no kidding.) There have also been internal disagreements with members of "The Socialist Workers Party," who are thought to have attempted to co-opt the leadership of MayDay 2K protests.
As with previous protests in London, Greece, Seattle and Washington, ERRI analysts are concerned about the possibility of violence and property damage associated with MayDay 2K activities. It is likely that protest activities will occur in other cities throughout the world. A "anarchist" leader from Eugene, OR has already warned that there will be "an offensive in various places [associated with MayDay 2K]...it is going to be an interesting Spring." Additional advisories will be issued by ERRI as more information becomes available.
ERRI analysts say that what we may see developing is an example of what is called "4th Generation (or Asymmetric) Warfare." In 4th Generation Warfare, as described in a ground breaking 1989 Marine Corp Gazette article, "the battle likely to be widely dispersed and largely undefined; the distinction between war and peace will be blurred to the vanishing point. It will be nonlinear, possibly to the point of having no definable battlefields or fronts. The distinction between "civilian" and "military" may disappear. Actions will occur concurrently throughout all participants' depth, including their society as a cultural, not just a physical, entity." (1) The concept of "asymmetric" or "4th Generation" warfare has been further defined by a number of other authors.(2)(3)
References:
(1) "The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation." By William S. Lind, Colonel Keith Nightengale (USA), Captain John F.
Schmitt (USMC), Colonel Joseph W. Sutton (USA), and Lieutenant Colonel Gary I. Wilson (USMCR), Marine Corps Gazette, October 1989, Pages 22-26
(2) "The Evolution and Devolution of Terrorism; The Coming Challenge For Emergency and National Security
Forces", The Journal of Counterterrorism and Security International, Winter, 1999
edition, Vol. 5, No. 4, Pg. 8-11
(3) "Fighting For the Future; Will America Triumph," Peters, R., Published by Stackpole Books, 1999
Added 12 May 2000 - Photo-essay of World-Wide MayDay Activities from FoxNews
© EmergencyNet News Service, 2000. All rights reserved. May not
be reproduced without permission of ERRI/EmergencyNet News.
Emergency Response & Research Institute
6348 N. Milwaukee Ave., #312
Chicago, IL. 60646
(773) 631-3774 - Voice
(773) 631-4703 - Fax
(773) 631-3467 - Modem/Emergency BBS On-Line
http://www.emergency.com - Main Webpage
webmaster@emergency.com - E-mail