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Fifth Day of Protests, July 29th |
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by Matthew Williams, plaid_baboon (nospam) hotmail.com |
 To close the protests against the DNC, the police decided to attack the protesters. Tension mounted all day, starting with the 100-person Critical Mass bike ride at 8:30 am, which was trailed by a dozen bike cops. During the course of the day, there were also a number of independent actions by affinity groups. Throughout the day, activists reported being tailed by undercover police, a helicopter hovered above the Convergence Center, and several activists were temporarily detained and searched by the police. A permitted No Blood for Oil March, of 100-150 people, left Copley Square at 1:00, swelling to 500 as they marched towards the Fleet Center, site of the DNC. Upon arriving at Government Center, near the Fleet Center, a stand off with the police ensued, with the police eventually attacking protesters (on the excuse of a non-existent Molotov cocktail), arresting three people and sending at least one protester to the hospital. The protesters were released after six hours of jail solidarity work. Then final protest of the day was a queer kiss-in at 6:30. |
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30 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : GLBT/Queer : Human Rights |
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Fourth Day of Protests, July 28th |
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by Matthew Williams, plaid_baboon (nospam) hotmail.com |
 The first major protest of the day, with 500 people, was a rally calling on the US government to respect human rights called, “What Have Become?: From Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib?” Another 400-500 people gathered in Blackstone Park to support a local environmental justice group calling for funding for public health, not the bioterror lab being built in their neighborhood. A group of 10 pro-gay marriage activists disrupted a DNC meeting and were removed by the police. In the early evening a street theater action took place against the “Free Speech Zone”, with activist entering it with hands bound and heads hooded, while a group of DNC delegates condemned the “Free Speech Zone”. The police were becoming increasingly aggressive throughout the day, showing up in totally disproportionate numbers to the environmental justice rally, and arresting one activist while he was walking down the street. |
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29 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights : Race |
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Speakers at Rally for Human Rights Wonder What the US Has Become |
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by Matthew Williams, plaid_baboon (nospam) hotmail.com |
 As part of the on-going protests against the Democratic National Convention, on Wednesday, July 28, there was a rally of 500 people in Copley Square from noon to 2:00 pm. Sponsored by United for Justice with Peace, the main Boston-area anti-war coalition; Boston Mobilization, a local student activist group; the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); and the Kucinich for President Campaign, the rally was entitled, “What Have We Become?: From Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib.” Speakers decried the US government’s violations of human rights, the Constitution, and international law in its conduct of the war “against” terrorism, citing such examples as the on-going detentions without proper trial in the US military base of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and the American-run torture chambers in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. |
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29 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights : International |
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Dems Begin Damage Control Over Protest Pits |
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by Naomi, arche (nospam) riseup.net |
 On Wednesday afternoon, a "ad hoc" group of Democratic delegates held a press conference in the DNC protest pit with the stated intention to "speak out against the conditions within the protest zone" and "call on the Democratic Party leadership to also make a public statement opposing the zone."
But any possibility the event would represent real political movement on the convention floor was sooned dashed as the bright lights and cameras dazzled delegate spokespeople into the usual partisan song and dance blaming the protest pens on Bush and absolving the democrats of any responsibility. |
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29 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights |
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Barbed Wire Over Boston: Strong Police Presence at the Really, Really Democratic Bazaar |
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by Naomi, arche (nospam) riseup.net |
 The green grass of the Boston Common, along with the civil liberties of several thousand people were trampled today by squads of police that continually marched, biked and cycled around and through the peaceful displays of the Really, Really Democratic Bazaar. Under the propagandized shield of "combating terrorism" and "preventing violence", the growing security state seeks to protect itself from the exploding numbers of the disenfranchised that will inevitably rise against it. And on the Boston Common, approximately 2500 people of all flavors celebrated "another world is possible" while ignoring the police. Live music on two stages, free haircuts, free massages, free bikes, and free hugs were just several of the ways people expressed their commitment to the creation of community and the living protest to consumptive living. |
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Complete Recap of Monday's March for Civil Liberties and Against Police Brutality |
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by TOC- AZ IMC, |
 A detailed recount of Monday's march for civil liberties and against police brutality. About 400 people marched from the Boston Common towards the Fleet Center, site of the Democratic National Convention. The corporate media was swarming everywhere. The police were surprisingly restrained, given how they been behaving lately, such as in Miami and Georgia. The end of the march was disorganized, since there was no clear plan about what to do when we reached the protest pen. |
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26 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights |
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One Activist's Experience of Being Searched on the T |
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by Danny P, dannyp (nospam) indypgh.org |
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My experience riding the T and getting searched and questioned about activites in Boston: After walking near the so-called "soft zone" and attempting to leave the area, I headed towards Haymarket station to catch the T. After making it past the turnstile, a cop signaled to me and had me go through my backpack in front of him. Guised as small talk, he proceeded to question me about what I was reading (I had one book on police brutality and another on anarchism), if I was in Boston to see the convention, and where I went to school. |
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26 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights |
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