NYT: Muting protests in NYC

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rusty Hodge <rusty () hodge com>
Date: September 3, 2004 2:27:58 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: NYT: Muting protests in NYC

I like how the president of the RNC host committee refers to the 
protesters as the "modern anarchist threat" in the last paragraph.

The pattern of circling and arresting protestors, interning them for 
20+ hours, and eventually releasing them WITHOUT CHARGING THEM FOR 
ANYTHING is scary. If the authorities don't like what you're saying, 
they can shut you up for a day and you have no recourse. (Hopefully the 
ACLU and others will file lawsuits for improper arrest.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/politics/campaign/02protest.html

Tactics by Police Mute the Protesters, and Their Messages
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
and DIANE CARDWELL

Published: September 2, 2004

As the Republican National Convention approached its final evening 
tonight, nearly 1,800 protesters had been arrested on the streets, 
two-thirds of them on Tuesday night alone. But for all the anger of the 
demonstrations, they have barely interrupted the convention narrative, 
and have drawn relatively little national news coverage.

Using large orange nets to divide and conquer, and a near-zero 
tolerance policy for activities that even suggest the prospect of 
disorder, the New York Police Department has developed what amounts to 
a pre-emptive strike policy, cutting off demonstrations before they 
grow large enough, loud enough, or unruly enough to affect the 
convention.

The demonstrations, too, have thus far been more restrained than many 
recent protests elsewhere; five years ago in Seattle, for example, 
there was widespread arson and window-smashing, none of which has 
occurred here. Lacking bloody scenes of billy-club-wielding police or 
billowing clouds of tear gas, the cameras - and the public's attention 
- have focused elsewhere.

"It is almost easier to explain what you are not getting here," said 
Ted Koppel, anchor and managing editor of ABC's "Nightline," when he 
was asked why news organizations have given little time to the 
protests. "What you are not getting here is a replay of 1968 in 
Chicago."

Twice yesterday, protesters did manage to breach the security cordon at 
Madison Square Garden. During Vice President Dick Cheney's speech last 
night, a woman wearing a pink slip rushed the convention floor. She was 
quickly tackled and dragged out, while nearby conventiongoers covered 
the disturbance by raising their signs and chanting.

Earlier, at noon, 12 demonstrators from Act Up, the protest group 
concerned with AIDS issues, entered the convention site. They 
interrupted a speech that Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, 
was giving to a group of Young Republicans. The protesters, who were 
shouting for more money to prevent the spread of AIDS, were arrested, 
and one was charged with assault after a scuffle.

Ann Roman, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service, said the Act Up 
protesters apparently had legitimate Young Republican floor passes, 
although she would not say how they acquired them.

 In general, though, if the week's protesters wound up shouting mostly 
to themselves, the Bush-Cheney campaign did not get the wild-eyed foil 
it had counted on, either. While Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the 
Police Department had promised an orderly city all along, several 
Republicans had indicated that they hoped to blame the campaign of the 
Democratic nominee, John Kerry, for any destruction.

So far, there has been little to pin on the Democrats.

"If the protesters do something outrageous, they benefit Bush; if they 
don't do something outrageous they don't get covered," said Kieran 
Mahoney, a Republican political consultant from New York. "They are the 
answer to the question, 'If a tree falls in the forest, does it make 
any noise?' "

In fact, the image that went nationwide, on television and in 
newspapers, was from Sunday, when United for Peace and Justice, a 
protest coalition, held a huge but orderly march that managed to cast a 
shadow over the opening day of the convention.

 Now, with the highest-profile day to go, the day President Bush 
accepts his nomination, it appears that the New York Police Department 
may have successfully redefined the post-Seattle era, by showing that 
protest tactics designed to create chaos and to attract the world's 
attention can be effectively countered with intense planning and a 
well-disciplined use of force.

 "So far, operationally, this has been a success for the department; 
things have gone well," said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. "We 
started 18 months ago. A lot of hard work by a lot of people, and so 
far it's paid off."

For New York City, and in particular for Mayor Bloomberg, the events of 
the last few days are a major victory, especially as he tries to 
persuade the International Olympic Committee to bring the 2012 Games to 
the city.

 "When the mayor bid for this convention, part of his argument, to 
bring either convention here, was that New York City had the only 
police force to deal with a modern anarchist threat," said Kevin 
Sheekey, a close adviser to the mayor who served as president of the 
convention host committee. "And obviously the Police Department has 
done that astoundingly well."

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