I was at the recruiting station, the only one who managed to get inside before some kamikaze bicycle cops rammed the folks behind me and started hitting people. i wanted to hold a non-violent sit in, but do you have any idea how hard that is when YOU'RE BEING PUNCHED IN THE FACE? and yeah, since i was the only one in there i couldn't exactly sit down without getting arrested. some marine started walking towards me, tried to push me outside. pushed him back, was like 'recruit this!' and bolted. i think what happened afterwards was excellent, basically the remaining marchers surrounded the cops and the people they grabbed, eventually getting them to let go. then there was a discussion for a few minutes, and we moved on, retaking the capitol lawn again. By this time, the only form of revolt anyone had any energy for was a dance party, so we did that until we got forced back again. We had a standoff again with about forty silent cops in a line lined up along the sidewalk they'd forced us back to for another hour or so. just as i was about to leave, the cops piled into a bus and left. so yeah. had a discussion about violence on the way back;
i'm an SDSer; i was at the recruiter (but i went individually and few other SDSers participated), but the first capitol siege was way more in line with our attitude. we don't need masks and riot gear: our primary function is to invoke social change, not civil disorder. and i think with the capitol action was far more effective, since it's not UFPJ style passivity, but then it's positive and inclusionary in a way the black block and hardline anarchist actions can't be.