Tweet
Compared to the events reported in other cities, the Chicago May Day march was reported as altogether a peaceful march. That said, this is the image that most newspaper readers and TV viewers in the Chicago area had of the march.
What you see in the picture are the leading ranks of Chicago Spring’s unpermitted march from its Bank of America action in the Loop to Union Square Park. Approximately 150-200 marchers, mostly attired in black and with black flags marched into Union Square in formation shortly before the permitted march was to begin. As far a most Chicago news viewers and readers were concerned, this was the nature of the entire march, primarily because a portion of these black-attired folks raced ahead during the march in order to be captured in pictures at the head of the march. And the media, as so often jumped to the conclusion that the entire action was intended to provoke. This was the infamous and scary “black bloc” anarchists seeking to provoke the equally infamous Chicago Police Department.
Events did not unfold according to script, no doubt because the CPD had good intelligence about what was planned but also because a goodly number of the marchers were not hard-core anarchists whose first response is some sort of limited aggression ranging to attacks on property. They were folks who adopted the appearance of the feared in order to make a statement about appearances that hopefully the CPD and other law enforcement agencies will learn before the NATO Summit. Risks do not exclusively come from people in black hoodies and leather, and sometimes there is no risk from folks in black hoodies and leather.
So what did happen? What exactly were the most egregious actions of the the day. Aside from the folks who rushed to get their masked and hooded faces in the newspaper, there were a couple dozen folks that carried on a running violation of police lines of control along the march. And there were a few folks of unknown political philosophy who set off bottle rockets and firecrackers in order to taunt the police and scare (most folks knew exactly what they were) the participants in the permitted march.
But most importantly, the action that caused the most commotion was the march from the downtown banks. Protesters forced closure of the banks by a few black-attired people walking into the bank together and announcing, “We want to open an account”. (The bank manager and security closed and locked the doors, effectively putting the bank on strike for a while.) That was anticipated by the CPD. What threw them off balance was a gathering of approximately 150 marchers (the contingent that showed up at Union Square) who took the streets from the Loop to Union Square. Chanting “Whose streets? Our streets!”, the marchers responded to CPD attempts to cut them off or force them to the sidewalks.
The actions that caused the most concern for the organizers of the permitted march was the “Black Bloc” theater diverting attention from the real issues of workers and Hispanics who provided the numbers for the march. And the juvenile setting off fireworks, especially when the origin of the incident might be read by police as coming from one of the Hispanic marchers–the consequence of which mistaken identity might include incarceration and deportation.
But most of all the organizers were concerned by the violation of the Chicago Principles for Chicago Spring, which call for separation in time and space when a diversity of tactics are being used. And that lack of respect for principles that required a long time to reach consensus worries folks about what is likely to happen when there is the Secret Service and not just the CPD exercising operational control over coordinated security that includes security teams from fifty countries.
There is the feeling that if respect for the Chicago Principles is restored, it is possible to push the envelope of the issues related to public space and the ability to petition the government for a redress of grievances and the need for an end to NATO, the military industrial complex, and the occupation of Europe without people getting arrested for actions that they were not given the respect of informed consent.
The relative peace of the Chicago May Day march was the result of so degree of restraint both on the part of the CPD and on the part of the more aggressive of the protesters.
And it showed the fallacy of trying to profile one’s potential actions by the way they dress.
13 Comments
Garry McCarthy should get some degree of praise for the restraint shown by CPD. I’m sure the message went out that no overreaction on the part of the police would be tolerated.
I am glad to see patience wearing thin within the protest movement for the juvenile attention-seekers who want to turn every single protest into a riot.
I honestly don’t know WHAT the “correct” response to the wannabe-anarchists should be. But showing “solidarity” with a group that only promises to undermine everything you’re working for is a losing tactic, and I’m glad to see that fact dawning on some folks.
Your diaries are inspiring, you’re a head of the flock.
Here is an example of diversity of tactics in Montreal, and of course improper profiling. http://yfrog.com/odkvigvj
I mean ahead of the flock :)
Indeed
Nice report.
Thanks much, THD. Rec’d.
And just in case any of you can help fund his activism, his WePay account is here, and could use some capital injections. ;o)
unlike many commenters, i had trouble figuring out what your point was. Were the people in black using or not using black bloc tactics? Are you happy for them to march if they keep a greater separation between bloc bloc and other nonpermitted activities and the permitted ones?
I’d like to point out that here in NY the NY Times chose to focus solely on the aggressive behavior of the police, which they reported approvingly, during the activities of nonpermitted marchers before the permitted march, and the Times did not even bother to MENTION, or picture in their slideshow or in print. the tens of thousands of workers and others, including immigrants with and without papers, who marched for hours from Union Square to Wall Street.
So the press will find whatever to draw attention away from the march you like. (I was on the permitted march but also joined the joyful and peaceful Occupy gathering afterward.)
I think it’s a huge mistake to bring in tenuous mighthavebeens (deportation because someone might think an undocumented Latino set off fireworks) to make an argument. I am not a black bloc supporter in any way and deplore its presence, in part because it is the perfect vehicle for police agitators. (And tossing fireworks is not often a black bloc tactic, i think.) But wishing will not make that sector of resistance go away, in part because it is global in scope.
But your comments do no one in the Occupy movement any favor, and imho it is Occupy that made the MayDay marches possible and well attended—i was at the Immigrant MayDay in NY but that was in 2006 and we’ve seen nothing on that scale since.
If you take Occupy seriously, you will bring your criticisms up at the next GA, I hope and have a real discussion about how to maintain the separation you approve of. But Your entire drift here is to suggest that black bloc members presumably identifying with Occupy messed up the MayDay march that would have happened without them. I very much doubt that.
thank you for your time.
Good job of reporting, TD. Unlike the commenter above, I understand that your purpose is to report and not to push an opinion (at least I feel certain that that is your intention). Thanks for doing what you are doing, and I hope it turns out to be the most fulfilling adventure of your life, amigo. Recommended. ((TD))
As if the term ‘separation of time and space’ wasn’t vague enough, in practice it’s completely subjective. If you’re marching with a black bloc, ultimately you are there to provide cover for black bloc activities. From the perspective of the black bloc, your function is to happily be a meat shield. The person who decides upon the appropriate ‘separation of time and space’ is the person engaged in black bloc activities. So these issues of trust among protesters who are supposed to be on the same side continue to go unresolved. There’s no easy answer, it seems. Thanks for this report, tarheeldem.
I was reporting the conversation that went on around the evaluation of the Chicago May Day march, not necessarily agreeing with any of the points of view. It seems to be a frequent issue of negotiation between Occupy groups and self-identified black bloc groups.
There are no easy answers indeed, just temporary accommodations.
I have no criticism of what Occupy Chicago did, and personally think that it was handled well in terms of raising the issues of police profiling of protesters — i.e. totally dressed in black equals hardcore advocate of black bloc tactics. And you point about the bottle rockets IMHO is exactly right. Anybody can be a jerk, or was that a minor form of provocation to distract from the march?