This will Show 'Em

[Guest MikeSC]

Summer classes train protesters for GOP convention

   

By SARA KUGLER

Associated Press Writer

 

June 15, 2004, 2:48 PM EDT

 

NEW YORK -- Instead of road trips, beach vacations and barbecues, thousands of anti-Bush demonstrators are headed to summer school to learn how to stage successful sit-ins and what to do if pepper spray burns their eyes.

 

Welcome to Convention Protesting 101.

 

Before GOP convention begins Aug. 30, veteran activists will train protesters in street tactics, legal issues, public relations and first aid in an effort they say is the largest of its kind. The aim: to create a force of well-schooled demonstrators who will carry out safe and organized protests instead of riots that obscure their message.

 

With city officials this week weighing which protest groups will get permits for official events, activists throughout the city are quietly learning how to block doorways or street intersections, and when to use passive body language _ such as sitting down _ to impede arrest.

 

"The Republicans would love to have images coming out of New York City that make them look like the reasonable ones, like they're about responsibility and law and order and creating a safe society, and that the left was unreasonable and violent," said John Sellers, director of the Ruckus Society, a California-based group that trains activists.

 

"If we don't recognize that, then we're not being very strategic," he added.

 

The instruction even includes skills for responding to rogue protesters intent on causing lawlessness, because veterans realize that thousands of untrained demonstrators are likely to swarm city streets that week.

 

The Ruckus Society, founded in 1995, will hold at least one weekend training camp this summer. Using many of the same principles, local activists are already teaching classes in churches, homes and public spaces.

 

"It's not just that we train a few thousand people over the summer," said Jeff Senter, a legal training coordinator. "They go and tell their friends, so the effect is multiplied several times over."

 

Organizers won't publicly disclose their plans for civil disobedience. But activists describe sit-ins and blockades at delegate hotels, pie-throwing at high-level officials, and street theater outside Broadway shows attended by convention-goers. A man who calls himself Jonny America plans to mimic Paul Revere's ride along Lexington Avenue, shouting "the Republicans are coming, the Republicans are coming!"

 

Activists have declared Aug. 31 as an official day of civil disobedience, calling for all protesters to sit down and refuse to move in the streets around convention headquarters at Madison Square Garden and other sites throughout the city.

 

"We'll take over the streets, transform them into theaters, stages for resistance and forums for debate," says their call to action, read aloud at a recent protest meeting. "We will draw our examples and inspiration from the brave shapers of history who came before us _ those who put their bodies on the line to gain independence."

 

John Flanigan, 28, and Tim Doody, 30, are teaching some of the classes on this kind of resistance, also called direct action. The four-hour class begins with protest history, from the Boston Tea Party to treetop protests against logging. The point is to remind attendees, Doody says, that "a lot of things that we take for granted these days weren't given to us, they had to be taken."

 

Students then learn popular street tactics like sit-ins and blockades. "You put yourself in a vulnerable position if you're doing a direct action _ chaining yourself or putting yourself in the street, putting your body on the line," Flanigan said. "They want to know how the police are going to react."

 

Police spokesman Paul Browne declined to comment on activist training, but said the department approves of any methods that teach protesters to be less confrontational.

 

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said recently that he expects about 1,000 arrests per day during the four-day convention _ three times the normal daily arrest volume.

 

Direct action trainers say they aren't urging protesters to break the law. But arrests are inevitable, and protesters are preparing for that too by offering legal training.

 

Lawyers, law students and volunteers are teaching protesters about their rights and the legal process before, during and after a typical protest arrest. They learn, for instance, that they don't have to answer questions.

 

"Under the stress of the probability of getting arrested, everything goes by the wayside," said Jenny Heinz, a Manhattan psychotherapist and protester since the 1950s. "It's very hard to hold on when you're being questioned."

 

Organizers say they will set up a legal office and hot line and deploy hundreds of legal observers to attend protests, track arrests and monitor the police.

 

Protesters-in-training also take medical classes, and learn how to treat activists who are injured or dehydrated.

 

Among the tips: carry cloth soaked in apple cider vinegar to help soothe eyes and skin stinging from pepper spray; don't wear contact lenses, which can trap chemical spray; wear goggles to protect against rubber bullets.

 

And, of course, adult diapers can provide relief during a long sit-in or jailing.

 

"When you're protesting in New York City," said Sellers of Ruckus, "you're definitely in the big leagues."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-...p-regional-wire

So, to show how unreasonable the Republicans are --- they're going to be BIGGER assholes?

 

Interesting idea. Trying to recreate Chicago 1968, it seems.

 

It's fun to watch the left come unhinged.

-=Mike

...Who's going to LAUGH when this blows up and shows the voters how irrational the left now is...

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Too bad there isn't a "beating the shit out of pseudo-hippie protesters class."

 

I had to learn this on my own...

[Guest MikeSC]

Too bad there isn't a "beating the shit out of pseudo-hippie protesters class."

 

I had to learn this on my own...

I will applaud the first time one of the hippie wannabes gets maced and clubbed. I will stand up and applaud should blood be drawn in the process.

-=Mike

[Guest INXS]

Yeah, because using violence on peaceful protesters is the way a democratic and free nation should go about protests.

[Guest MikeSC]

Yeah, because using violence on peaceful protesters is the way a democratic and free nation should go about protests.

Seeing as how they're PLANNING on confrontations, it'd be wrong to not give it to them.

-=Mike

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Non-violent confrontation.

 

Did you even read the article before you posted it or did you just scan it and decided it to post it to try and show everyone how stupid the Left is?

 

The aim: to create a force of well-schooled demonstrators who will carry out safe and organized protests instead of riots that obscure their message.

Damn terrorists.

 

The instruction even includes skills for responding to rogue protesters intent on causing lawlessness, because veterans realize that thousands of untrained demonstrators are likely to swarm city streets that week.

 

Ohhh... they sure sound evil.

 

activists describe sit-ins and blockades at delegate hotels, pie-throwing at high-level officials, and street theater outside Broadway shows attended by convention-goers. A man who calls himself Jonny America plans to mimic Paul Revere's ride along Lexington Avenue, shouting "the Republicans are coming, the Republicans are coming!"

 

I hope those pies don't have nuts in them...someone might be allergic.

 

Direct action trainers say they aren't urging protesters to break the law. But arrests are inevitable, and protesters are preparing for that too by offering legal training.

 

They Must Be Stopped.

[MrRant 0]

Indeed they must be stopped.

 

And shipped to Canada.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

We have enough protesters at the moment.

[MrRant 0]

You have plenty of space.

 

Move farther north. Use the Yukon.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

But it's cold there.

 

Let's send the protesters to Newfoundland...mwahaha.

[MrRant 0]

Or Quebec.

 

Nova Scotia always rubbed me the wrong way too. Pissant little province.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

How About P.E.I.?

[Vyce 0]

But it's cold there.

 

Let's send the protesters to Newfoundland...mwahaha.

I have nothing against the Newfies. So why give them such a terrible burden?

 

BTW, no one here should be so absurdly ignorant as to expect that these protests will be 100% peaceful. I've been through a few protests here in D.C. in the last few years, and while I'll throw out the caveat that most of the time the protestors are non-violent (though annoying and utterly disruptive to the NTH degree), there WILL be some assholes who start shit, probably with the cops, and frankly, those people deserve the beatings they will so justly receive.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

So, to show how unreasonable the Republicans are --- they're going to be BIGGER assholes?

"So a Republican stands up in Congress and says 'I GOT A REALLY BAD IDEA!!!!'

 

And then a Democrat stands up and says, 'WELL, I COULD MAKE IT WORSE!!'"

[Guest MikeSC]

But it's cold there.

 

Let's send the protesters to Newfoundland...mwahaha.

I have nothing against the Newfies. So why give them such a terrible burden?

 

BTW, no one here should be so absurdly ignorant as to expect that these protests will be 100% peaceful. I've been through a few protests here in D.C. in the last few years, and while I'll throw out the caveat that most of the time the protestors are non-violent (though annoying and utterly disruptive to the NTH degree), there WILL be some assholes who start shit, probably with the cops, and frankly, those people deserve the beatings they will so justly receive.

Heck, Vyce, look at the protests in Seattle when Bush came to speak for a congressman up for re-election. The protestors attacked ANYBODY who was NEAR the hotel --- including the winners of the Gay World Series. In SPITE of their violence --- they claimed, the whole time, to be "non-violent" --- yet they wouldn't allow old people to pass.

-=Mike

[Guest thebigjig]

Mike's advocating violence against protesters yet we on the left are the communists??

 

 

hmmmm...

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

We just want to beat them up, not kill them.

 

Besides, the worst I've ever done was wipe my rear with a "free Mumia" flyer given to me by some pseudo-hippie at some pseudo-hippie march...

[Guest Cerebus]

 

*Archie Bunker music*

 

Those were the days...

[2GOLD 0]

So, to show how unreasonable the Republicans are --- they're going to be BIGGER assholes?

"So a Republican stands up in Congress and says 'I GOT A REALLY BAD IDEA!!!!'

 

And then a Democrat stands up and says, 'WELL, I COULD MAKE IT WORSE!!'"

 

You earn major points for quoting Lewis Black.

 

 

And Mike, are you wanting all protesters beaten or just the idiots who throw things? Cause those morons need a good smacking around.

[Vyce 0]

Mike's advocating violence against protesters yet we on the left are the communists??

 

 

hmmmm...

I think Mike advocates what I'm advocating here.

 

If they really are peacefully protesting, they'll likely just be incredibly annoying, and most certainly entirely disruptive, but they should be left alone, or, conversely, simply treated with scorn.

 

If they start shit - if they start fucking around with cops, or with ordinary people who are just minding their own business, or trying to go about their daily lives, then may definitely deserve a few well-placed kicks from jack-boots.

 

The constitution protects the right to protest - but it doesn't give one the right to start screwing with people under the guise of First Amendment protection.

[Guest MikeSC]

So, to show how unreasonable the Republicans are --- they're going to be BIGGER assholes?

"So a Republican stands up in Congress and says 'I GOT A REALLY BAD IDEA!!!!'

 

And then a Democrat stands up and says, 'WELL, I COULD MAKE IT WORSE!!'"

 

You earn major points for quoting Lewis Black.

 

 

And Mike, are you wanting all protesters beaten or just the idiots who throw things? Cause those morons need a good smacking around.

If they are GENUINELY peaceful, fine and dandy. Do whatever you want.

 

If you become DISRUPTIVE to others, then I got a problem.

 

You block traffic? I got a problem. You prevent others from going where they want? I got a problem. You throw things, pies or otherwise, at people? I got a problem.

 

If you act like a dick --- I have NO problem with the police beating you until you either gain some sense or lose consciousness.

-=Mike

[Guest MD2020]

But it's cold there.

 

Let's send the protesters to Newfoundland...mwahaha.

I have nothing against the Newfies. So why give them such a terrible burden?

 

BTW, no one here should be so absurdly ignorant as to expect that these protests will be 100% peaceful. I've been through a few protests here in D.C. in the last few years, and while I'll throw out the caveat that most of the time the protestors are non-violent (though annoying and utterly disruptive to the NTH degree), there WILL be some assholes who start shit, probably with the cops, and frankly, those people deserve the beatings they will so justly receive.

Heck, Vyce, look at the protests in Seattle when Bush came to speak for a congressman up for re-election. The protestors attacked ANYBODY who was NEAR the hotel --- including the winners of the Gay World Series. In SPITE of their violence --- they claimed, the whole time, to be "non-violent" --- yet they wouldn't allow old people to pass.

-=Mike

There is a Gay World Series? I did not know that.

 

 

One question about the protests: will there be puppets? You know, the giant puppets that somehow equal informed political debate? Because, if there are no puppets, I'm not fucking going.

[Guest MikeSC]

There is a Gay World Series? I did not know that.

 

 

One question about the protests: will there be puppets? You know, the giant puppets that somehow equal informed political debate? Because, if there are no puppets, I'm not fucking going.

Yup. They stayed in the same hotel as Bush, as a matter of fact.

 

BTW, they did a bang-up job of setting the whole "gay rights" movement back a while, too.

-=Mike

[Art Sandusky 0]

At least they're nice enough to try and train themselves to be civilized in what will end up being lawlessness on both sides of the protest line.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

BTW, they did a bang-up job of setting the whole "gay rights" movement back a while, too.

-=Mike

But I bet the unis were colorful...

[Guest MikeSC]

At least they're nice enough to try and train themselves to be civilized in what will end up being lawlessness on both sides of the protest line.

Umm, no, they aren't shooting for following the law. They're teaching them to how to get the most attention --- you know, spit and slap at cops, then scream "peaceful protestor" when they attempt to cuff 'em.

-=Mike

[AndrewTS 0]

"NEW YORK -- Instead of road trips, beach vacations and barbecues, thousands of anti-Bush demonstrators are headed to summer school to learn how to stage successful sit-ins and what to do if pepper spray burns their eyes."

 

Wow, I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the boring ones?

 

Even if I was vehemently anti-Bush, I wouldn't waste my summer on that. I guess the aim is to try to get a lot of press prior to the election, though.

[Art Sandusky 0]

At least they're nice enough to try and train themselves to be civilized in what will end up being lawlessness on both sides of the protest line.

Umm, no, they aren't shooting for following the law. They're teaching them to how to get the most attention --- you know, spit and slap at cops, then scream "peaceful protestor" when they attempt to cuff 'em.

-=Mike

The worst I saw in that article was pie-throwing. Try again.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Heh. I heard last night on everybody's favorite cable news channel that a bunch of animal rights wackos went to some California public officials house, and the neighbors began drenching them with super soakers -- pure gold...

[Guest MikeSC]

At least they're nice enough to try and train themselves to be civilized in what will end up being lawlessness on both sides of the protest line.

Umm, no, they aren't shooting for following the law. They're teaching them to how to get the most attention --- you know, spit and slap at cops, then scream "peaceful protestor" when they attempt to cuff 'em.

-=Mike

The worst I saw in that article was pie-throwing. Try again.

Kylie, I'll ask you to simply take a look at history to see what they actually intend to do.

-=Mike