BLACK BLOC, ANTIFA, AND POLICE METHODS IN 2018
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
JANUARY 18, 2018


THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE ARRESTS MADE DURING THE PROTESTS AT THE 2017 INAUGURATION. IF YOU WILL RECALL, IT WAS A VERY ANGRY CROWD AND THERE WERE AMONG THEM MEMBERS OF THE GROUP CALLED ANTIFA, WHO PRACTICE VIOLENCE, MAINLY AGAINST PROPERTY. I WAS PULLING FOR THEM AGAINST THE NEO-NAZIS WHO WERE THERE, HOWEVER, AS THEY DID FIGHT THEM. POLICE INTERVENED, OF COURSE, AS THEY SHOULD, AND SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED THAT NIGHT. AS FOR THEIR FATES, THE COURT “DROPPED CHARGES” ON MANY OF THEM. USUALLY THAT MEANS THAT EITHER THERE IS NO LAW THAT HAS BEEN BROKEN OR THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH PROOF TO CONVICT OF ANY CRIME. I WONDER WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE. IT LOOKED AT THE TIME TO ME THAT POLICE MADE A GRAB TO COLLECT AS MANY PEOPLE AS THEY HAD ROOM TO HOUSE IN THE JAIL, PROBABLY AS A THREAT TO OTHER PROTESTORS, AS WE AMERICANS BELIEVE OCCURS IN PLACES LIKE RUSSIA AND CHINA. THAT WAS ONE YEAR AGO ALMOST TO THE DAY. I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN THE NEWS FOOTAGE AND PROBABLY WON’T.

ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE BELOW, THE COURTS WERE NOT ABLE TO CONVICT THE FIRST SIX PROTESTORS WHOM THEY TRIED, AND THEN DECIDED TO DROP CHARGES ON OVER A HUNDRED MORE. THE STORY DOESN’T SAY WHETHER THE TRIAL OCCURRED BEFORE A JURY OR A JUDGE. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BECAUSE IT MIGHT INDICATE WHAT THE PREVAILING PUBLIC VIEWPOINT IS ON THE RIGHT TO PROTEST, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT IS THE ISSUE AT STAKE HERE, AND I CARE A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE MATTER. IT IS THE ONLY REALLY EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUE FOR THE POOR AND SIMPLY THE LESS THAN POWERFUL, TO CREATE JUSTICE AND CHANGE.

ANARCHISM AS A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY IS MORE INTERESTING THAN I HAD REALIZED, IN THAT IT HAS AN ECONOMIC THEORY, ALTHOUGH ONE THAT STRIKES ME AS BEING ILLOGICAL AND UNWORKABLE IN A POPULATION OF OUR SIZE. WIKIPEDIA GAVE COMMUNES AND OTHER COLLECTIVISM AS BEING COMMONG, BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE CHOSEN ONE. AS A MOVEMENT AGAINST UNRESTRICTED CAPITALISM, I SYMPATHIZE GREATLY, BUT NO GOVERNMENT AT ALL ISN’T A GOOD WAY TO ACHIEVE A BETTER ECONOMIC BALANCE. OUR SYSTEMS OF ORDER WOULD MOST PROBABLY BREAK DOWN ENTIRELY, INSTEAD. WE WOULD QUICKLY RETURN TO BARTER, LOCAL MARKETPLACES, MILITIAS AND TOWN MEETINGS, OF COURSE, BUT MANY OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE OUR LIVES MORE ENJOYABLE WOULD BE GONE.

I DO WANT FIXES TO CAPITALISM AS WE HAVE IT TODAY, SO THAT IT DOES NOT SQUEEZE THE LIFEBLOOD OUT OF THE POOR AND THE MIDDLE CLASS, AND UNETHICALLY RESTRAIN THE ECONOMIC EFFORTS OF EVERYONE ELSE TO START THEIR SMALLER, NEWER BUSINESSES. WE IN THE US HAVE MADE STEPS TOWARD THAT GOAL, BUT NOT AS WELL AS MOST OF WESTERN EUROPE AND BRITAIN HAVE. THAT’S THE REAL SOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEMS AS A WHOLE PEOPLE – NOT A SMALL GROUP OF OLIGARCHS, WITH GROWING POVERTY EVERY DAY AMONG THE OTHERS. I INCLUDE IN THAT GROUP THE BLUE COLLAR MIDDLE CLASS PERSON WHO LOSES HIS JOB OR HAS A VERY SERIOUS ILLNESS AND CAN’T WORK. HIS OR HER POSITION WILL FAIL FAST.

WE NEED TO DO BETTER AND, YES, PROTEST AS WELL AS EMAILING CONGRESS AND THE SENATE, BUT NOT WITH BRICKS AND BILLY CLUBS. I SAW THE MELEE AT THE 2017 INAUGURATION, AND SOME OF THE BLACK BLOC FIGHTING WAS DISTURBING TO ME; I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE MOVEMENT BEFORE AND I JUST THOUGHT OF IT AS USE OF “EXCESSIVE FORCE,” AS WHEN POLICE DO THE SAME THING. IT IS WRONG NO MATTER WHO DOES IT.

BESIDES, IT IS MY OPINION THAT MASSIVE GROUPS OF 100,000 MARCHING IN ORDERLY FASHION WOULD WORK EVEN BETTER. THE PROBLEM IS THAT OUR CURRENT GOVERNMENT BELIEVES IN THE “SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP” PRINCIPLE AS THE ESSENCE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP. THAT’S WHAT MAKES ME LEAN TOWARD THIS KIND OF THING AT ALL.

BELOW THIS FROM USA TODAY, SEE ARTICLES ON “BLACK-BLOC TACTICS” AND MORE.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/01/18/drops-charges-against-129-inauguration-day-protesters-trump/1046324001/?csp=chromepush
U.S. drops charges against 129 inauguration day protesters
USA TODAY NETWORK USA TODAY Published 5:59 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2018

Photograph -- Police use pepper spray on protesters in Washington, D.C., on President Trump's inauguration day. The chaotic confrontation occurred just blocks from Trump's inauguration festivities.
(Photo: Mark Tenally, AP)

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Attorney's office is dropping charges against 129 people accused of rioting in Washington, D.C., on President Trump's inauguration day.

Prosecutors, in documents filed late Thursday afternoon, said the decision was made in light of a verdict last month, which found the first six defendants to stand trial for the charges not guilty.

In a statement, the government said it was exercising discretion, "so that it can focus its efforts on this smaller, core group that we believe is most responsible for the destruction and violence that took place on Inauguration Day."

Violent protests on Jan. 20, 2017, resulted in 234 people being charged or arrested with mostly felony charges. At the time of Thursday's filing, 188 people had pending charges.

The government said it will move forward with the remaining 59, which, it said, engaged in the destruction of downtown D.C., helped plan the demonstration and displayed "black-bloc" tactics.

Prosecutors will file motions to dismiss for the 129 defendants.

Developing story.

Follow Sean Rossman on Twitter: @SeanRossman


BLACK BLOC (SEE ALSO “ANTIFA” AND 1999 SEATTLE WTO PROTESTS.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bloc
Black bloc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Sudanese political bloc, see Black Bloc (Sudan).

A BLACK BLOC is a name given to groups of protesters who wear black clothing, scarves, sunglasses, ski masks, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing and face-protecting items.[1][2] The clothing is used to conceal marchers' identities, and hinder criminal prosecution, by making it difficult to distinguish between participants. It is also used to protect their faces and eyes from items, such as pepper-spray, which are often used by law enforcement during protests or civil unrest. The tactic allows the group to appear as one large unified mass.[3] Black bloc participants are often associated with ANARCHISM OR ANTIFA.

The tactic was developed in the 1980s in the EUROPEAN AUTONOMIST MOVEMENT's protests against squatter evictions, nuclear power and restrictions on abortion, as well as other influences.[1] Black blocs gained broader media attention outside Europe during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests, when a black bloc damaged property of Gap, Starbucks, Old Navy, and other multinational retail locations in downtown Seattle.[1][4]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism
Anarchism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions. These are often described as stateless societies,[1][2][3][4] although several authors have defined them more specifically as institutions based on non-hierarchical or free associations.[5][6][7][8] Anarchism holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful.[9][10]

While opposition to the state is central,[11] anarchism specifically entails opposing authority or hierarchical organisation in the conduct of all human relations.[12][13][14] Anarchism is usually considered a far-left ideology[15][16] and much of anarchist economics and anarchist legal philosophy reflects anti-authoritarian interpretations of communism, collectivism, syndicalism, mutualism or participatory economics.[17]

Anarchism does not offer a fixed body of doctrine from a single particular world view, instead fluxing and flowing as a philosophy.[18] Many types and traditions of anarchism exist, not all of which are mutually exclusive.[19] Anarchist schools of thought can differ fundamentally, supporting anything from extreme individualism to complete collectivism.[10] Strains of anarchism have often been divided into the categories of social and individualist anarchism or similar dual classifications.[20][21]



ANTIFA MOVEMENTS GO BACK TO THE 1930S. READ MORE ON THE WEBSITE ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY OF ANTIFA GROUPS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-WWII_anti-fascism
Post-WWII anti-fascism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about Anti-Fascist Action networks or Antifa movements worldwide. For national groups, see Anti-Fascist Action (disambiguation). For the history of the broader anti-fascist movement, see Anti-fascism.

Antifa movements and Anti-Fascist Action networks are LEFT WING, OFTEN ANARCHIST, EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY POLITICAL MOVEMENTS who describe themselves as anti-fascist. Such movements have been active in several countries in the second half of the 20th and early 21st century.

Germany[edit]
Main article: Antifaschistische Aktion, Logo of Antifaschistische Aktion

Antifaschistische Aktion, an umbrella organisation for militant anti-fascists in Germany, was formed in 1932. It was sometimes called "Antifa". Although it did not survive the war, local anti-fascist committees were formed across Germany, typically by veterans of this organisation, as Nazi rule crumbled in 1944, under the name "Antifa".[1] These anti-fascist committees often included communists, social democrats, and progressive Christians.[2]

In Communist East Germany, anti-fascism became part of the official ideology of state, and the abbreviation Antifa was used for various organs of the Communist state. For example, from 1961, the East German Socialist Unity Party used the term "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) as the official name for the Berlin Wall, in sharp contrast to the West Berlin city government which would sometimes refer to it as the "Wall of Shame".[3][4]

. . . . .



CURBING THE POLICE?

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11963274
Police 'kettle' tactic feels the heat
By Julian Joyce
BBC News
9 December 2010

Police attempting to control student demonstrators in London have resorted to controversial "kettling" techniques to contain the protest.

Used effectively at the G20 summit in London in April 2009, kettling has developed as the Metropolitan Police's tactic of choice when it comes to controlling large and potentially violent protests.

But how does it work and why is there opposition to it?

The word derives from the German word "kessel" - literally a cauldron, or kettle - to describe an encircled army about to be annihilated by a superior force. For soldiers within the kettle the situation would soon become unbearable hot.

For police officers, the kettle has a different end but the tactic remains the same - containment and control.

Writer and director Zia Trench was caught in a "kettle" at the G20 demonstration in the City of London.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to protest but I thought I'd check out the demonstration and show my face for half an hour," she said.

"As I walked out of Cannon Street Tube I literally found myself facing a line of police. When I asked if I could get through, the police refused. They then moved me down the street towards the Bank of England."

There, Ms Trench joined a growing group of protesters corralled within a circle of police in the square in front of the Bank.

Held by the police within the circle for up to seven hours, the protesters found themselves trapped.

"We were completely surrounded - we couldn't get out and after a while the police stopped other people getting in," Ms Trench said.

Writing in the Times, former senior Met officer Andy Hayman described how kettling worked:

"The tactics are "to herd the crowd into a pen, known as 'the kettle'... the police will not want groups splintering away from the main crowd."

Policing experts say the procedure dictates that officers move protesters to a pre-designated spot. As other protesters join the crowd, the police noose draws gradually tighter.

Eventually protesters find themselves surrounded by police specially trained in crowd control. Mounted police can also provide backup.

Police may occasionally relieve some of the pressure on the kettle by allowing people to leave - but officers are constantly seeking to maintain control and this is via a designated route.

However, anyone determined to stay may be held for hours without access to food and water.

During the G20 events, protesters reported having to relieve themselves in the street because they had no access to toilets.

In recent weeks students protesting against an increase in tuition fees have complained about being beaten with batons and the police moving them around from exit to exit with the aim of tiring them out.

They said their strategy was to avoid being contained by police.

Eventually, say the police, most [protesters] get fed up and agree to depart peacefully.

At the G20 protest, police were criticised after it was alleged that demonstrators who refused to be photographed and give their names and addresses were put back into the pen.

Kettling has already been unsuccessfully challenged in the courts on the grounds that it constitutes false imprisonment and that it contravenes freedom of movement.

Police defence

But police defend it, arguing that the tactic provides an efficient and relatively safe way of controlling crowds which may contain individuals bent on violence.

Revealingly, the use of the word kettling differs depending on which side of the police line you stand.

Security expert Mal Geer of Prime Media, a firm instructing journalists how to cope in riot situations, says kettling is so called because "it takes the steam out of a potentially violent situation".

Students and police clash at a protest against tuition fees

Image caption -- Students protesting against tuition fee increases say kettling exacerbates violence

But a G20 protester had a different interpretation: "Kettling means keeping people inside an area until they are boiling with rage."

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti, agrees: "We have serious concerns about "kettling" human beings in difficult situations....

"Imprisoning them in this way risks making people angry, making them desperate and exacerbating any risk to public safety," she has told the BBC.

Students demonstrating in London over tuition fees have blamed kettling for exacerbating violence.

Even defenders of the tactic acknowledge it is not without risk.

"Officers find themselves incredibly up-close and personal with people who are yelling abuse and trying to get out," said one former officer.

"Inevitably, tempers get frayed. You can imagine that it wouldn't take much of a spark to light the fuse."

But the Met stresses all officers are bound by strict guidelines laid down by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

For example the police standard weapon - the baton - can be used, but only if its use is "proportionate to the level of threat".

Additionally, "The decision to strike is for the individual officer and must be justified by them in each instance."

Court challenge

Accused by protesters of restricting the right of protest and free movement, police kettles have already faced a challenge in the courts.

At a May Day protest in 2001, Lois Austin and 3,000 fellow demonstrators were held within a police cordon in Oxford Street for seven hours.

Although Ms Austin claimed damages for false imprisonment and unlawful detention, her case was dismissed by High Court, the court of appeal and the House of Lords.

It found her treatment did not violate her right to liberty if the measures were used in good faith, were proportionate and were enforced for no longer than was reasonably necessary.

After the G20 protests, Scotland Yard ordered a review of the tactic, following the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson, who had been struck by a police officer in a "kettle".

The Independent Police Complaints Commission advised the Met to to review its crowd control methods, including the tactic of kettling.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor, described the kettling technique as "inadequate" and belonging to a "different era" of policing.

However, he did not suggest that kettling should be abandoned - rather the methods must be adapted so that peaceful protesters and bystanders are able to leave the kettle.

With legal backing from Britain's highest court, together with the belief among law and order professionals that containment is the "least worst" option, it could be that the kettle tactic has a continuing future.

VERY INTERESTING GRAPHICS -- CONTAINING PROTESTERS

Protesters begin to gather from roads to the north and east, and are guided towards a central location by police.

The graphic above shows how the police contain crowds of protesters, using London's Bank of England as an example. Protesters begin to gather from roads to the north and east, and are guided towards a central location by police.

Police wearing high-visibility jackets begin to form a cordon around the crowd
A crowd of protesters forms outside the bank, as more join the demonstration from the surrounding roads. Police wearing high-visibility jackets begin to form a cordon around the crowd.

The police cordon has now entirely contained the crowd, but protesters can still enter if they so wish

The police cordon has now entirely contained the crowd, but protesters can still enter if they so wish. Equally, people may leave the "kettle" through an exit point to the south or west, away from the main protest.

As the crowd grows, the police cordon expands

As the crowd grows and police perceive a threat, the cordon becomes a permanent "kettle" strengthened by riot police waiting in nearby vans. Nobody can enter or leave - possibly for hours.

Related Internet links
Metropolitan Police
Liberty