Rally against Bush

On the night of Bush's acceptance speech, I and my friends joined the protest rally down the street of MSG. It was a huge pain in the ass getting there. The police wouldn't let you walk straight there, you had to go several blocks out of the way to get to the site. I have no idea how much, I feel the detour added at least a mile. The picture below is roughly how it worked. (X marks the Rally, S is where we started):

S---------------------------------------------------

                                             l

                                             l

                                             l

MSG X--------------------------------------------

We walked our tired selves to the rally. Once there, we had a good time talking, shouting slogans, basically a multi city block street party. The protest warriors were there too (a pro war group that supports bush) keeping things interesting. The cops put pens between the groups and kept the groups apart so the dozen protest warriors could protest the protest. It was amusing watching people shout at each other, no real communication happening, but it looked like a good tension reliever.

Footage of the warriors before they got warmed up and angry.

By being there, protest warriors were blocking the thousands trying to get to the rally against Bush. So the protesters asked them to go away.

Naturally, a group called "Protest Warriors" will respond with their own very compelling chant.

The police penned the warriors into their own protest zone so the rest of the protestors could get around them and get to the legal area for the rally.

People looking at the protest warriors trying to figure out why they are so angry.

At the rally was a woman fresh out of the NYPD protestor pen.

(On the back of her shirt is the civil liberties the cops ignored while detaining her.)


She had been in it for over fourteen hours. She stood up the whole time because she didn't want to lie down on the floor caked with grease and chemicals. Her group got arrested for not dispersing when ordered too. The cops had them surrounded when the order was given. Apparently, they were expected to grow wings and fly. As she was being put into the pen, she said there was some rough treatment by an officer who kept one hand covering his name on his badge. That scared her. She and her group yelled at reporters to take pictures now so they would have evidence of the bruises they would receive.
The cop walked away. He dropped his hand too soon and she got his name and yelled it at him. Everyone else chanted it too.
Thankfully, she wasn't assaulted by the police other than being tossed in the pen.

I guess protests in NYC were going too peacefully. Some of the police were organized behind the tactic of baiting groups into breaking the law, so the NYPD was responsible for causing a number of arrests like one mentioned above. Another group was surrounded like the group above. Someone in the police told them they should walk single file to leave. When they did, the cops arrested them for demonstrating without a permit.
Another group was standing with signs in front of the NYC library and an officer said they should sit down. As soon as they did, they were arrested them for not leaving.
I can only think the police or Bloomberg didn't want things to go too smoothly.

I heard Bloomberg speak on NY TV. I heard him talk about the anarchists and apply the word terrorists to them. He went on about how the anarchists are about causing trouble with the goal of getting people's rights revoked.

Is this guy for real?

While this could be some group's goal, this has as much to do with Republicanism as the anarchism movement. Michael Bloomberg, I ask you, take a day off and read a book about anarchism. You need to grab a clue because a lot of people watching TV think you know something about the topic, but you don't. Suggested reading list about anarchism below, but let me sum it up for Bloomberg--anarchism doesn't mean running around and breaking shit.

Books Bloomberg hasn't read but should:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0853451753/qid=1094318879/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-4993887-1012639
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486224848/qid=1094318879/sr=ka-2/ref=pd_ka_2/103-4993887-1012639
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1873176643/qid=1094318879/sr=ka-3/ref=pd_ka_3/103-4993887-1012639

Photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lancerkind/album?.dir=d5e0&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lancerkind/my_photos

In some of the rally footage, you will see skyscraper's in the background. MSG is before them and to the left. This rally ran up to 10PM eastern, which is when the demonstration permit expired and Bush started his speech. You will hear a MC speaking from somewhere ahead of my position. There are signs facing back at me because the rally was split to allow the street to stay unblocked. Perhaps the MC was in the street with sound equipment. Later the police closed the street and let the rally combine.

Here is the layout:

SkyScrapers

MSG

=================      <- barriers

=     Rally     =      

=       in      =  <- Police surrounded all the barriers on all sides and monitored 

=     the front =     the rally from the top of nearby buildings.  There was a

=================     chopper with a spot light too.

****************  street*******

================

=     Rest of  =

=     Rally    =

=              =

=              =

=              =

=      ===     =

=      = =     =

=      ===     =

=        ^Protest

=        Warriors    <- There was police guarding the protest warriors too.

Footage:
1
2
3
4
5
6

The rally gets vocal near Bush time:
7
8
9