Democratic National Convention, Day One. My photographer George Sarabia and I were in the downtown area of Los Angeles most of the day. Around 2:00 PM, we monitored LAPD tactical radio frequencies where we heard police begin to follow the demonstrators who had gathered at Pershing Square. The march, whose theme was Human Need Not Corporate Greed, snaked through the downtown area up to 5th St. / Hope St. (the World Trade Center) and back to Pershing Square. The radio chattered with excited LAPD Commanders� voices as they �leap frogged� what they call a �mobile field force,� several of them actually, around the demonstrators, guiding and herding them to their destination and back. And although the LAPD went on a citywide tactical alert, the march was peaceful and uneventful. Cops did their jobs and First Amendment Rights were respected. As the day wore on, however, the mood around the Staples Center began to shift. In the early evening as Hillary Clinton was addressing the delegates inside Staples Center, the band Rage Against The Machine began their outdoor concert at Figueroa and Olympic, in the designated protest area. Having been introduced by Richard Montoya of Culture Clash, Rage did not let their fans down. Rage sang about the injustices in America and even called for the freeing of alleged cop killer, Mumia Abul Jamal, who still awaits legal word about whether he will receive a new trial for killing a Philadelphia cop or face the death penalty. The crowd jumped, danced and cheered as Rage�s guitars and drums pounded out their political message. But, soon Rage left the stage and United Farm Workers Union official Dolores Huerta addressed the crowd. She congratulated those gathered at Olympic and Fig for being willing to question what Rage had referred to as the �sell-out show� inside Staples Center. Some 20 minutes later the band Ozomatley took the stage and began their concert. This is when the trouble began. Approximately 15 minutes into their performance, the electricity to the designated protest area was pulled, presumably by the LAPD. Apparently the time limit on the permit for last night�s concert had been reached and the LAPD wanted to shut the area down. The crowd began to get restless, chanting for the electricity to be restored. After about 15 more minutes it was, only to be used by the LAPD to announce that the concert had been declared an �unlawful assembly� and that all persons in the protest zone had to leave. The crowd was given 15 minutes to vacate. >From our vantage-point at Olympic & Figueroa, directly across from the protest zone, we could see that the hundreds gathered in the zone began to move towards Olympic to the small exit at Figueroa. Two small groups lit fires inside the protest zone, however, and danced around them apparently not in a hurry to leave. Over twenty minutes, the LAPD repeated their warnings of arrest in English & Spanish as demonstrators filed out. Suddenly the sound of gunshots could be heard at Olympic & Figueroa, where I saw several LAPD officers on Olympic, facing west towards the Harbor Freeway, firing rubber bullets at the demonstrators who had just exited the protest zone. Suddenly there were screams as more shots were fired at fleeing demonstrators and press. The LAPD helicopter circled above as the Mounted Unit (horses) entered the protest zone, encircled it, and began pushing slower moving demonstrators out of the protest zone. Meanwhile, the officers on Olympic continued shooting westbound at the demonstrators who were now being chased on Olympic away from Figueroa. That group was ultimately chased straight down Olympic to Union St., where the battered crowd finally dispersed. There were several factors which led to last night's violent confrontation; First, the LAPD helicopter circled over the concert area before, during and after the concert. Since the LAPD helicopter which was video taping did so from a higher altitude, there did not appear to be a reason for the second LAPD helicopter to continue it's constant low level orbiting over the concert. Second, pulling the plug on the electricity without warning seemed to be an antagonistic move. If that was the LAPD�s intent, it worked. Third, once the electricity was turned back on, those in the protest zone were ordered to leave in 15 minutes. The only exit out of the protest zone was located at Olympic & Figueroa, and was only large enough for perhaps three or four people abreast. It was tight. Fourth, the LAPD officers who had been geared up in riot gear all day in hundred-degree heat, were more than anxious to take out some aggression. The skirmish line at Olympic & Figueroa began firing at those leaving the protest zone without warning. They had been warned about being arrested if they did not leave the area, however, they were not warned that they would be fired upon with rubber bullets if they moved too slow. It was to sad watch as inside the Staples Center one part of America participated in what has become less of a political convention and more of a Hollywood prime time infomercial, while outside, the real America, once again found themselves running and being shot at by the very people who should be defending their right to speak out. Final thoughts; 1) The chaotic screams, the sound of gunshots and helicopters, all reminded me of war. The area around Olympic & Figueroa looked and sounded like Saigon during the American pullout in 1975. I wondered if President Clinton knew what was going on as he spoke, or if he would care if he did know. 2) A waiter at a hotel near Staples Center had asked me earlier in the afternoon if I were a Democrat or a Republican. I just smiled at him because I�m neither and still have not decided for whom I would cast a vote . After watching last night�s fiasco, however, I�m even more confused than I was when my day began. � 2000 Gil Contreras - All Rights Reserved For More Info on Gil Contreras: http://home.earthlink.net/~gilcontreras -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN-DISCUSS: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network - Discussion -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe%20laamn-discuss> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20laamn-discuss> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20laamn-discuss-digest> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=laamn-discuss> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn-discuss> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://archive.tao.ca> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <home.labridge.com/~laamn> | LAAMN | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
