Thanks. I was beginning to think nothing happened !

Video footage from the rush to the Capitol

Anarcho Capitalist
nice advertisements on your video
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use a free service for this kinda thing

great footage!
thanks

Associated Press: The rally on the National Mall unfolded peacefully, although about 300 protesters tried to rush the Capitol, running up the grassy lawn to the front of the building. Police on motorcycles tried to stop them, scuffling and wrestling with some and setting up barricades along the front steps.

Protesters chanted "Our Congress" as police faced off against them. Their ranks grew and several dozen shouting "We want a tour" broke away and tried to get into a side door.

bravo...not too bad. there's a certain symbolism in refusing to march the UFPJ route. numbers were small, but hopefully, we can see more of this tone of disobedience in future protests.

The numbers grew and later we went up to the recruting station and a cop threw a rock at the window and cracked it, folks almost got in after a scuffle with cops. I am defiantly with you in wanting more of this to happen, especially since UFPJ makes such a mess, thousands thousands of signs and other recycling just thrown away, with out any regard to the environment and all the trees it took to make them...and then they have the audacity to stand there and say we can't do this without your money when they have the money to pay for a stage, signs, police protection fancy vests and gas money for buses as well as all the other crap they had, and they just threw away signs that could be reused, because there lame permitted parade is not going to stop the war, if we had, had more folks with us we could have broken the police lines and stormed the capitol or the white house!

bravo...not too bad. there's a certain symbolism in refusing to march the UFPJ route. numbers were small, but hopefully, we can see more of this tone of disobedience in future protests.

http://one.revver.com/watch/153522/flv/affiliate/28821

one.revver.com/watch/153521/flv/affiliate/28821

one.revver.com/watch/153526/flv/affiliate/28821

Anarcho Capitalist
nice advertisements on your video
..!..

stand off at the steps

shields

Thanks for the photos. Let's start getting our shit together for March 17 and shut down the Pentagon.

The pentagon is closed on the weekends and ANSWER is racist and fascist so no lets not go to the pentagon, lets march over the fence at the white house and take it back (and I am not joking about this one bit, and I understand that people might get shot and well if you aren't willing to die for your cause then are you really that dedicated to it, if we get all the people from ANSWER to jump the fence as well as the radical bloc and others we can take back the white house and they could not stop us!)

The Pentagon is not 'closed' on the weekend, although it may appear that way seen from the road. It operates on reduced weekend regular or rotating staffing schedule - with those folks who are critical for maintaining and support critical ongoing operations - say like the war in Iraq ( a 24/7 operation) - on duty and functioning.

True. But folks don't have to take marching orders from ANSWER or UFPJ or any other hierarchial formation. And didn't today.

Nothing prevents SDS or other networks from calling for a convergence during that weekend ( including Monday) to shut this down . The question really is, can anarchist and anti-authoritarian direct action advocates get their feces cohesive enough to self-organize, form affinity groups and clusters, identify and share resources, set up a convergence website for ongoing info exchange, and make this happen on a national scale? If not in March, when?

Just Bring it.... And when you get your @$$ kicked by a Pentagon guard, don't cry to me, or at the US. It would have happened because you brought it upon yourself.

Photos 1
baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/14505/index.php

Photos 2
baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/14506/index.php

Did you guys clear the anti-imperialist message with Cagin and Conyers? Only two speakers said anything about impeachment, a British guy and actor Tim Robbins. Good ole Jesse "Jive" Jackson made the rounds earlier shilling for Barack OBome'em before he gave his usual Keep Hope Alive bullshit at the get out the vote for the Democrats rally.

bush will never be impeached. dick would become prez, then he would be impeached! then condi would be prez! no time soon will some shit like that happen!

"bush will never be impeached. dick would become prez, then he would be impeached! then condi would be prez! no time soon will some shit like that happen!"

Umm not true dude. If bush were impeached, the vice dick is next in line and then after him comes the speaker of the house, mrs. pelosi. condi is 3rd in line. Having the suc(sic)retary of state of being the back up to the vice dick is a myth propagated by ronald reagan's sucretary of state (and military fascist) alexander haig.

Impeachment isn't the same thing as removal from office. If Bush were impeached, it would serve as a severe embarassment and vastly limit his abilities for the duration of his term. A conviction would have to be brought against him to oust him from office, and frankly, I don't think that's possible.

after VP is Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi - sounds good to me

This could explain the rarity of People O'Color in the Capitol Steps contingent and the March at large; I'll bet a large number are just waiting around for the Democratic Party to give them permission to rise up.

Yeah, I know; that sounds cold as shit, but it's honestly the only answer I can come up with, especially when there was damn' near ZERO mass public demonstration of outrage by African America in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina. Not one riot, not one occupation of a FEMA office in any major city, not one mass mobilization/CD anywhere in the goddamn' country… and the only explanation that I, personally, can come up with is that they're waiting for permission from Jesse Jackson and the CBC.

Btw, I didn't know the Rev was shucking for Barack Obama…uh, Obomb'em.

Actually, I've always like "Barack O-bomb-Irana".

It fucking sucks we need to really start getting out there and working to do our best to organize with people of color, I know it can be hard with these fucking do nothing authoritarian groups co-opting the energy and anger of these groups. It is also important that we really take on the left that parts of have moved farther and farther right allowing racism to run free and rampant, just so long as israel also gets blamed

It's good to see people broke away from the sanctioned protest but where are the people of color in that contingent at the capital steps? I only see white people.

Where were you then, I think more people of color need to come out and stop hanging out with the racists in the Left who support anti Jewish and anti PoC groups and people...it would be great is folks started coming out with the more radical folks and we started doing more direct actions especially against the growing racism on the left not to mention the dress up nazis and klanKlowns, I hope when the Klan comes to D.C. in the spring all people of color in D.C. come out ready to fight these fuckers and the cops who protect them, we must all stand as one in unity!

I was there.. there were several people of color there.

Yeah there were but there should be a lot more, and there should have been a lot more folks of colors and sexes there with us!

good job everyone! everyone did really well today. don't let the critics get to you when they say you just marched around an empty building. and also, don't let them get to you when they say you just stormed an empty building. Both were very good symbolic actions around the empty Capitol Building. It is really cool when anarchists and groups like ufpj, code pink, ANSWER, the ISo, WCW, MoveOn.org, pacifist and religious groups can all do symbolic actions on the same day. storming the empty Capitol Building it complemented UFPJ's march around the empty building too.

Black is beutifal.

that was only your clothing. you have no clue what it is to be black.

"The question really is, can anarchist and anti-authoritarian direct action advocates get their feces cohesive enough to self-organize, form affinity groups and clusters, identify and share resources, set up a convergence website for ongoing info exchange, and make this happen on a national scale? If not in March, when?"

We're working on it. Expect to see something new in a few months.

Anarchists and anti-authoritarians are already working with a variety of national and local groups.

The focus this year should be on counter-recruitment organizing. The military is stretched to the breaking point and if this war lasts past June, the military will be desperate to find new blood.

Thank you, everybody who turned out in D.C. today to protest the war.

"Anarchists and anti-authoritarians are already working with a variety of national and local groups."

Well, it's about time! I was beginning to think you guys all changed your minds, considering that anarchists have been largely absent from recent events. What types of groups are you working with or plan to work with? There are plenty of anti-authoritarians who are still working to expose the truth behind 9/11 (no, that's not going away till it's solved!). I hope this is also part of your agenda.

"Well, it's about time! I was beginning to think you guys all changed your minds, considering that anarchists have been largely absent from recent events."

fuck your idiotic condescending and your wingnut bs.

-- a friend of brad will

Also glad to see that the CIA (in the guise of black costumed,shit disturbing Anarchists) was well represented in the Washington Protest too!

Yes a Big Black Bravo to all you CIA funded Assholes...er...I mean Anarchists!!!

Dear Dale Campbell

Fuck you, you have no fucking clue what you're talking about. Your useless peace rallies do NOTHING, anarchists are the only ones taking the risks and taking the extra steps and in case you hadn't figured it out yet we oppose all forms of hierarchy and the assertion that we have association with the fascist CIA is completely absurd. If anything it seems HIGHLY more likely that groups like UFPJ and ANSWER are backed by the CIA, to keep the anti-war movement sterile, useless, controlled, and permitted. You liberals may not know each other in a faceless crowd, but anarchists have a much deeper connection to one another, collectively willing to take the risks necessary to push the movement in the direction it needs to be going.

Dale campbells and assholes aside, all the anarchists LOVED that so many liberals joined in on the action and stepped it up and you're all awesome for that, keep it up.

...and if you had talked to anyone other than your friends, you would have figured out that not everyone at the march is, "a liberal"...

I know what I am talking about because I am richer and have a bigger house and car than you and I went to Harvard and I studied this where did you go CIA school.You are just trying to stop all the wonderful work that UFPJ and ANSWER have done by smashing everything you walk by and attacking everyone because that is what the CIA tells you to do, I know I am better than you so I know these things.

Is there a way to get CIA funding such as a grant request? I'd love to get my hands on some of those Stinger Missiles that they gave to Bin Laden a few decades back.

Why Stingers? Do you have a problem with non-US aircraft?
You must, because the CIA's "Fist of Allah" is designed to miss them.

Anarchist protests are just as lame.

You in no way interfered with the functioning of power in this kountry. Hezbollah and the Iraqi resistance would laugh at your kiddie tactics.

Nice costumes, though.

Take out a communications center, power station, or pimp and you might be more impressive.

hoo-dee-doo having a dance party in the grass infront of the capital building isn't accomplishing much. or anything. Anarchists in america are in a great seat to affect the most devasting foreign policy in the world and you have a dance party and break one window? the heat needs to be turned on. here in europe you would be laughed at until you cried.

"...in europe you would be laughed at until you cried..."
is that what made you so bitter? being laughed at by europeans during your highschool exchange in europe?

turn on the heat...like, march along a fenced off parade route doing nothing while bombs are falling, pat yourself on the back and go home self-satisfied and impotent?

for just 600 in police state usa, this was excellent.

as for europe, you don't know shit, arshloch.

who was that person in the pick-up truck with veteran's patches that people were hugging and high-fiving? i heard he started some radical vietnam veteran's group but wanted to find out more.

police blocking the capitol steps

A recruiting center window was smashed as well.

Great job to the 300 or so idiots who acted like children on the west front of the Capitol on 1/27. Any political agenda you may have is grossly overshadowed by your 'amateur hour' tactics.

More like an apolitical agenda, amigo. But regardless of agenda, how can you construe our actions as childish? The storming of the Capitol was done in the spirit of free speech; we refuse to let anyone tell us when, where, and how we can utilize our voices. Free speech isn't a right doled out and restricted by the government, it's something we possess because we're human beings. And so on Saturday we went where we wanted and we said what we wanted in order to send a clear message to the cops, the politicians, and anyone else who saw what happened: we still value our rights, our liberties, and we won't bend a fucking inch on them, no matter what the law says.

The same question needs to be answered by both you and "Me" a few comments above: just what have you done that's so radical and important? Did you march around in a rectangle? Did you vote Democratic? Did you have a bake sale? Step up to the plate, hombre, put your name on your comments and take some fucking action instead of smugly criticising the people who are actually going to change this mess.

One last bit to whoever said that all they saw was white people: you're looking at the wrong thing, friend. What is white? What is black? The definitions of the words are absurd, there are countless ethnicities belonging to each stupid race-term. A friend of mine who attended the march Saturday was born in Puerto Rico, but he looks 'white.' What's the difference? We're all people, we don't need more 'blacks' or 'hispanics' at these rallies per se, we need more people, period. If we want a world that looks beyond race, we'd better start looking beyond it too.

I am sorry we weren't herded around like sheep and we weren't able to go to a nice fancy home in the 'burbs in our new hybrid SUV we bought to feel good about ourselves...I guess what we need to do is just sit there and be complacent with people dying in Iraq and Afganistan and all around the world, I guess it is what should happen and we should make it almost seem like we care and then really don't care and allow the war to go on and on! Maybe we could all put a Hillary 2008 on our big ole hybrid SUV and show the world how little we care about anything going on around us, we could just be apathetic drones who do nothing while the world suffers, and then when somebody does something we can call them idiots because we will be better than everyone else!

Your ignorant words speak volumes Thomas. Didn't ask me if I was there did you? You want me to man up Thomas, tell you who I am? Well my group didn't march with there faces covered with rags holding shields to cover their bodies. My group made there voices heard without breaking any rules or regulations in a peaceful maner. Why?? Because the moment you start violating rules, regs., and begin to take actions with no regard to law, that is the moment people begin to compare you with the same individuals and entities you are standing up against. You screw yourself because nobody listens Thomas. Oh yeah, they hear the noise, but nobody listens. That may be why with all that noise I heard coming from the West front I still have no idea what the hell your agenda is. Promoting an "apolitical" agenda at the US Capitol? Doesn't make much sense does it?

These pictures are only a few I have from the end of the march when police were threatening to force us off the street with their motorcycles and by threatening to arrest us. In my opinion, an insane abuse of power (if I had threatened to run over an officer's foot with my motorcycle I certainly would not be typing this now) and not only that, when I asked officers for their names/badge numbers most of them refused to respond until I urged someone with a video camera to tape us asking them. Some of the names and badge numbers are: Darling 1820, Tighe (sp?) 4721, Nutten/Natten 1741 (my hand-writing, unfortunately is terrible and was rushed).

Abuse of power??? You were all sitting in the middle of Independence ave.! Hello...is anybody home? Freedom of speech, assembly, etc. does not grant an individual the right to violate the law by sitting in the middle of the street when those streets are open to traffic. My advice for you is to learn Constitutional law and continue to legally protest when individuals rights are being violated. While your at it, look up some local DC laws so you realize when you yourself are in violation. Stop being a follower and educate yourself. One more thing, maybe you should write those officers thank you notes for protecting your ignorant behind while you sat on it in the middle of the street. I wonder how many dc taxi cabs would have left tire tracks on you before you decided to move.

to "voice of reason" : You obviously weren't there. Independence Ave was closed to traffic. It was part of the authorized march route, and the people sitting there (many of them were dancing, playing drums, etc) were not in the middle of the road, and they weren't blocking pedestrians from passing by. The march had basically fizzled by this point. Then the cops decided to demonstrate their authority, only to have to back down in the face of resistance. About 10 people or so sat there right in front of the motorcycles, refusing to move, and after about a 30 minute standoff, the cops turned their Harleys around. The people won, power lost. Nobody was hurting anything, or violating any laws.

And, in a display of outright media falsification, the main AP news story reports: "About 50 demonstrators blocked a street near the Capitol for about 30 minutes, but they were dispersed without arrests." Complete bullshit. No one was dispersed.

The conversation going on on this page is completely rediculous, and yes, as one person pointed out, people in Europe laugh at this shit. The debate over following the law and breaking law ended A LONG FUCKING TIME AGO. The sentiments of "non-violent change" were disproven and defeated A LONG FUCKING TIME AGO (This isn't a comment on this protest, as there was no violence), you're all living in the past if you're not up to speed by now. The main point to get across is that although the anarchist contingent at the protest didn't take it nearly as far as is truly needed (For a variety of reasons), they went further and inspired more people than anyone sitting on the grass watching Dennis Kucinich give a speech or walking at .0001 mph with a bunch of signs that look identical in a permitted controlled fashion. Anarchists pushed shit in the direction that the movement NEEDS to be going, but certainly nearly everyone who was involved in that contingent acknowledges that much more needs to be done (In respose to the European comment).

Peaceniks and "change the system from within" liberals are dinosaurs, none of your tactics have been shown to work at all, or to do anything other than occasionally accomplish reform, which for anyone with truly liberatory intentions is nothing. "Freedom" is the freedom to do what the government considers unimportant. Reclaim what freedom really is and start fighting.

I can't even understand the thought process behind people who quivel over useless bullshit like "Why'd they spraypaint the steps of the capitol, this is putting out the wrong message! We want congress to listen to us!" and "Breaking the law doesn't solve anything" and "Breaking windows is VIOLENCE! NON-VIOLENCE!!" Seriously, are you even awake? Probably close to 200,000 people have died in Iraq as a result of U.S. military intervention. Can you even fathom that? 200,000? That's the equivalent of 66 September 11th attacks. Ask yourself this question:
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE BEFORE YOU YOU REALIZE MARCHING IN A CIRCLE ISN'T CHANGING ANYTHING?

Well said.

so why the fuck did you stop at the bottom of the fucking capital steps? it seems the bloc in the us isnt about to risk death for change.

More than 655,000 have died. Closer to 1,000,000 by now.

And you know what? In the battle of Fallujah, the American pilots were ordered to bomb the hospital. At least some of them did. But any of them could have taken their bombs and released them over some uninhabited space and saved a few lives. And that kind of scattered illegal action can save a few lives every day, or a thousand lives every year; the same kind of concerted illegal action would make this war, or any war, impossible.

The very word 'war' originally meant 'law enforcement.'

Right, because playacting at revolution changed something.

The irony and ridiculousness of this is amazing - the "dinosaurs" working "in the system" actually did change something - namely the INSIDE of Congress. That affects far more than playing at the obsolete and impotent Black Bloc tactic, which does nothing but stroke adolescent white men's egos anymore.

When have anarchists recently changed anything?

The nameplates in Congress have changed, but that's about it.
Like St. Clinton, the current democrat bottom feeders are all politically right of Nixon.
Life is better for those politicians, but I personally haven't noticed any difference.

These anarchists enjoy joining a rally of sheep (maybe most are sheep) and then running off to some area and acting the fool with their "revolutionary", willing to make a "real" statement actions. What kind of actions? Spray-painting some steps or breaking a window? An 11-year old juvenile delinquent could do more "revolutionary" activity. Until you show the ones that hold power that you are willing to give up your *life* for what you believe in, like Malcolm X, then you're just a clown in black, not fooling anybody. How about doing something really revolutionary like staying away from the next sheep rally? Create your own actions. Don't associate yourself/smear others (sheep as you call them) with your clownish, pathetic acts. Sadly the CIA doesn't have to pay you, you're such tools you do it for free.

Non-violent tactics were disproven a long time ago? So, certain bus protests never accomplished anything? I admit that MLK and others never came close to accomplishing their ultimate goals, but I wouldn't say that their tactics were disproven, because they certainly inflicted change.

And, though it took a while, the end of the Vietnam war was ushered in mainly by non-violent protests.

Vietnam was ended by the Vietcong, Barry Goldwater and other hawks, and last and certainly not least, GI resistance, which I hope is more widespread in Iraq and Afghanistan than the "liberal media" reports.

Right On! Lets stop splitting hairs with our brothers and sisters, and remeber the inhumanity and injustice that unites us all.

I thought this was supposed to be close to a week long demo? You guys dropped the ball! Maybe you'll do better in March.

You people are not anti war. You all are just looking for attention your mom and dad didn't give you.

Let's get a little more practical here, about the Capitol Police response.

I'm pretty familiar with crowd control tactics, and I was a little surprised to see motorcycles with sidecars (with no one in the car) at the protest. (Last DC protest I attended was Sept 2002. They had bikes, horses, Harleys and SWAT teams, but no sidecars.)

When this breakaway to the Capitol steps occurred, the merits of sidecars became more obvious. They have "bumping" crowd-moving potential. They are wider than a motorcycle, and the sidecar could bump someone without the harm (and loss of control) of a front tire bump.

The Capitol Police did have a squad of four bikes with sidecars that engaged with the breakaway group right at the outset. They did a good deal of engiven revving, etc., but the group seemed to just gain energy from that exchange. Four officers clearly were not going to have much effect controlling 300+ (with many onlookers.)

It did seem to me (with no offense intended to the energetic crew that ran up to the Capitol) that the police were on their best behavior and had orders not to create a stir. After all, there were several Congress people speaking at the rally. The police response may have been further tempered by the fact that the radical young folk were being followed by curious "mainstream" protesters, including some folks walking their poodles. Call it the unintended benefits of solidarity.

(just my observations)

Evidence that Capitol Police were playing nice:

AP

... Also on Monday, Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., asked for a meeting with U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse to discuss why police on Saturday did not stop a group of demonstrators who spray-painted steps on the west side of the Capitol.

"It is my understanding protesters were allowed to spray-paint the Capitol steps and deface buildings around the area while Capitol Police were instructed to not arrest anyone engaged in these unlawful acts," he wrote in a letter to Morse.

Schneider said police used "measured police crowd control practices" with the protesters. She said the writing was cleaned off quickly.

You've got it. The Capitol police gave those kids a gift on Sat. Every article I have read seems to indicate that The Capitol Hill Police were using an incredible amount of restraint and they weren't too happy about the treatment they received in return. They take a lot of pride in their jobs as well as the building they are sworn to protect. Defacing it was a big mistake.

Yeah, I agree that the cops were more restrained than usual (though that's not saying to much).

...but my foot is still fucking broken from when their motorcycles ran it over...

foxonline news reports: "not captured on tape was an incident reported by the hill in which capital police--fearing a clash with three hundred anarchists--allowed them to spraypaint on the west front steps of the capital building"

the spraypainting incident was 'not captured on tape' because it did not--nor was it ever planned to--happen.

These are literally genius propagandists. The cops "let" the protesters do something? They were powerless to stop them. You think it wouldn't have happened if the cops had no mind to "let" the protesters do something? The article makes it sound like the anarchists asked permission and the cops granted it, when in fact the anarchists did what they wanted to do, and the cops looked on helplessly, angrily, and couldn't do anything about it because they had no power to do anything. The anarchists took power from the cops, the cops didn't "let" the anarchists do shit.

You are very very naive. Wait till your face down on the concrete in cuffs then taken to dc jail. You'll be crying for your Mommy when you realize your way out of your element. Don't get too power crazy...you've already pushed the envelope as far as the cops will allow you to push it. Next time you may just learn a big lesson.

I guess you could say that the cops were a bit more 'restrained' than normal, but that's because I don't think there was a whole lot of overall 'resistance' going on (outside of the rush to the capitol).

However, when I refused to follow a cop's order to "clear the street" in a designated protest area, he ran his motorcycle into me. All I was doing was literally standing in place on the street. They then turned around and another cop ran into me from behind, his tire going right into the back of my legs. I wasn't even charging anyone or spray painting anything and finally a third officer came over to me and physically moved me out of the way.

Of course, there wasn't anything actually coming (say, an ambulance or a giant green monster) that required us to move. It was just a mindless, crowd-control tactic that I didn't want to participate in.

I always wondered what that was about when cops say "move along, folks." Why? Why do we have to "keep it moving" all the damn time? Is it really that revolutionary to simply stand still?

Same thing happened here. When I was walking to the gates of the Capitol I watched some cops on their cycles forcefully attack some of those trying to get to the sidewalk of the Capitol... in the meantime I didn't notice the cop coming at me full speed hitting the back side of my leg with his motorcycle.

I, myself, was wondering on how many people got injured during that crisis. I thought I was the only one till now. It was uncalled for without a doubt and an attack on the protesters.

this youtube video shows the struggle to take the steps. it wasn't exactly a walk in the park for everyone, but it was for those behind the front lines.

www.youtube.com/watch

"When I refused to follow a cops order" ....hmmmm I WONDER WHY YOU GOT HIT IN THE LEG??? Next time listen to the orders of the police. It boggles my mind. Why would the police ask me to move out of the street? Maybe because it was shut down for hours so people could lawfully protest and now it's time to open up one of the busiest streets in DC to of all things,CARS!!!!!Talk about mindless..are you sure that bike didn't hit you in the head?

ALL YOU PEOPLE ARE SO FUCKING RETARTED!!! THIS anarchy crap is fake government propaganda and you know it! all there was was a few people and NO riot gear no teargas what are you a bunch of wusses? I mean really, if it was so AWESOMe why did nobody hear about it? And what time was it at the capitol?

We also took to the streets of D.C., to a recuriting center and back again. Does anyone have footage of that?