Thousands March in Joy Through the Streets of Los Angeles
Police turn violent as demonstrators raise issues of social justice

August 15, 2000
By Joe Rigney 

While delegates to the Democratic National Convention gathered to celebrate another corporate coup over democracy, five thousand protestors marched peacefully from Pershing Square to the Staples Center, where the Convention was being held. Chanting “Al Gore, Corporate Whore”, activists from around the country filled the streets of Los Angeles.

The day started with a morning puppet procession to raise awareness about Al Gore’s connection to Occidental Petroleum. This oil company has become most visible example of Gore's spotty environmental record. Gore’s family has close ties to this multinational oil company. Occidental petroleum is destroying the lands of the U'wa, an indigenous tribe in Columbia.

A giant corporate monster held in one hand his puppet politicians (Gore and Bush) as they flushed democracy down the toilet and pumped themselves with a syringe full of capital punishment. A poor person was held in the tight grip of his other hand, squeezing out his life. This puppet graphically symbolized the control that large multinational corporations wield over the both the democratic and republican parties, a theme echoed in many of the marchers' signs.

Pieces of the puzzle marched through the street, spelling out issues that included Free Speech, Better Education, Free Media A Living Wage, Arts Funding, Justice, Dignity, and Universal Health Care. Although the mechanized wheels of corporate plutocracy ground through the crowd, the large red spirit of direct democracy rose above the crowd and smiled in the hot, morning sun.

Police violence against the demonstrators escalated later in the day as a group of nine activists locked themselves into the middle of an intersection. In a common non-violent, direct-action technique known as "locking-down", a metal structure was placed in the middle of the street which protestors chain themselves to in order to make it difficult to be removed by police clearing the intersection. 

With no apparent provocation, police grabbed one demonstrator and threw him to the ground. They then created a "skirmish line" around the demonstrators, threatening media and demonstrators with their batons and pushing them back into an area where they were sure they would be arrested. One woman was hit as she took a picture of an officer. The crowd shouted "shame, shame, shame," as more police poured into the streets.

The right to peaceably assemble was further denied to the people who blocked the street in front of the police line. Threatening demonstrators with their batons as they shouted "back," "back", "back", the police pushed the crowd back towards Pershing Square. Demonstrators eventually complied with the police order to return to the square, but only after a threat of arrest and pepper spray was made by the commanding officer.

Tension quickly subsided as the police stopped advancing on the crowd. The intersection was eventually reopened, and vehicle traffic again replaced the loud din of democracy in action.

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