A firm, but small, nip upon the buttocks of the first amendment.

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: DV Henkel-Wallace <gumby () henkel-wallace org>
Date: June 26, 2005 2:07:19 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: DV Henkel-Wallace <gumby () henkel-wallace org>
Subject: A firm, but small, nip upon the buttocks of the first  
amendment.


Dave,

I'm not really sure if this meets the definition of the subject of the
IP list (is there even such a definition?), but certainly a significant
majority of the list members are quite familiar with Palo Alto, and
might be interested in what transpired this evening.

We went out for dinner.  We had a nice meal, but the evening was
otherwise unremarkable.  But then, as we put our little boy to bed, he
was awoken by the continued noise of a helicopter.  I went out and
heard a voice barking indistinctly from the sky.  So naturally I put on
 my jacket and walked the three blocks downtown.  As a child my
mother instructed me very firmly that if I heard any such commotion
I should lock the doors, stay away from the windows and in _no_
case should I even _look_ at a policeman.  But I figure that I now live
in the USA so why not go check it out?

As I got closer in I could make out the Voice From Above.  The
helicopter was repeating "This is the San Jose Police Department.  You
are part of an unlawful assembly.  In the name of the People of
California I instruct you to disperse."

Now I do remember that the first amendment includes the right to
assemble freely, but I myself wasn't really "assembling."  In fact it
was not possible at that point for me to follow these instructions
since, a block from downtown, I could not see another person on the
block from whom I could "disperse"!  All I could see was the normal
crowds through the windows of the restaurants and bars and the
usual Range Rovers and Mercedeses driving down the street.

Yes, there was a small demonstration of kids planned for the evening.
And in response, the police forces throughout the county seemed to
have arrived.  I later counted police from at least five other  
cities, plus
the county sherriff and the Palo Alto force itself, and I didn't cross
University to see the other side or check out who had blocked off El
Camino.

Ironically as the heard the words of the helecopter I was at that
instant receiving a call on my mobile and was talking to a friend --
herself a downtown merchant -- who was shocked.  Her shock?  She had
meant to bring her kids to see the demonstration.

The scene was quite surreal.  Another block up the street was
"barricaded" (as the cops put it -- it was just a sawhorse) and  
guarded by
cops from another town.  They continually repeated that the street
was closed and not to enter but I (and a stream of other people) just
ignored them.  At the end of the block, on University, was a crowd of
folks watching the action.  Families were out, kids on shoulders, many
of us taking photos, although it was getting dark.

We in fact couldn't move forward.   There was a line of cops in riot
gear, one with a big machine gun.  He kept telling people to move to
the sidewalk but nobody was paying any attention.  I photographed a
bunch of badges -- these guys at least were Palo Alto cops.  But
behind them was a line of mounted police.  Then another line of _very_
serious-looking riot cops _ran_ forward towards the "demonstration",
to the excitement of the crowd, but then just formed a line behind the
horses and stopped.

I could not actually hear the demonstrators over the drone of the
cops.  The 'copter was gone (much to my disappointment as I've been
paying for it with my property taxes for all these years).

As I wandered around I got to see lots of equipment I hadn't realised
was available: light motorbikes, heavy motorbikes, Tasers, different
kinds of billy clubs and guns both long and short.  It's hard to say
how seriously the cops took things though; some barked orders
officiously, but others seemed rather half-hearted: I heard one
griping that his wife would be annoyed that he wasn't home and I heard
one mother talking about how she and her daughter had been stroking
the horses and admiring the eye-protection gear they wore.

But I have lived in Paris where _manifestations_ are a regular
occurrence and a scheduled part of city life.  This was thin gruel by
comparison.  All in all it was a huge load of nonsense (speaking of
nonsense there were many piles of it in the street from the horses --
who's gonna clean that up?).  At least I got out in the evening, saw
the neighbors, and caught up on the neighborhood gossip, but I could
hardly see the demo for all the cops.  In fact though the
demonstrators _did_ seem to outnumber the cops, it was close.  But I
am sure I saw more people in the street the last time Apple released
a new OS, but no extra cops.

I took lots of (terrible) photos.  Only one cop objected ("Hey I don't
think you'd want _me_ taking _your_ picture") so I handed him my
camera so he could take a picture of me next to his bike (he
declined).

At least the city had put up big signs saying "Welcome to Palo Alto"
welcoming the alleged protesters.  After all, the bars were full.  But I
think this money could better have been spent fixing the storm drains.

Regards,
d



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