Protesters return one year after Democratic Convention

BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff (left) A flag is burned
during the Democratic National Convention protests in August 2000.
(right) Protesters burn a homemade U.S. flag at the Aug. 14, 2001
rally to commemorate last year’s events.

By Bridget O’Brien and Kelly
Rayburn
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

With the streets filled with thousands of protesters from all
over the country, part of the crowd formed a circle outside the Los
Angles Police Department headquarters.

As the afternoon sun beat down, the crowd ““ some of whom
had been chased the day before by police officers wielding tear gas
and batons ““ began to roar and many raised their fists into
the air.

A fire started. Puffs of black smoke went skyward.

The ashes of a burning American flag fell in the open space the
crowd had created…

A year after thousands came to Los Angeles during the Democratic
National Convention to express discontent not only with the
Democratic Party but with the two-party system, the United States
government and corporate greed, some of the same protesters hit the
streets again last week in commemoration of last year’s
demonstration where, they said, many demonstrators were victims of
police brutality.

But the 150-person march from the intersection of Olympic
Boulevard and Figueroa Street to Pershing Square ““ the first
of what some said would be an annual event ““ was a far cry
from last year’s much-larger protests.

When asked how many people he estimated were rallying at
Pershing Square after the march on Aug. 13, Sgt. Andrew Mathis of
the LAPD shot a sideways glance out his police SUV window in the
direction of the group, which had thinned since the march, and
said, “I’d guess about 75.”

Mathis reported no arrests and one instance of graffiti, and had
no comment about complaints of excessive police force during last
year’s protests.

On Aug. 14, 2000, some in the group of protesters hurled pieces
of wood and chunks of signs at police over the 14-foot fence
separating public crowds from DNC delegates. The band Ozomatli,
which played after Rage Against the Machine, stood behind speakers
that, minutes before, had been silenced at the demand of L.A.
Police Chief Bernard Parks.

After being told to clear the area, protesters last summer fled
from officers, some of whom fired foam bullets.

“They gave 10,000 people 10 minutes to disperse,”
said Xochtil Guerra, a fifth-year world arts and cultures student,
who was at the protests last year and the rally last week.

Ralliers last week marched to protest not only what they
considered excessive police force at last year’s
demonstration, but also to advocate worker’s rights,
education reform and the freeing of Mumia Abu Jamal.

“By having an annual march like this, it really allows the
youth to come together for a variety of causes,” Guerra
said.

The only thing thrown at the 45 police officers on duty this
year were swear-words and the occasional extended middle
finger.

While marching last week, protesters chanted “Free Mumia
and fuck the police, no justice, no peace” and
“Ain’t no power like the power of the youth,
’cause the power of the youth don’t stop.”

The 1.1-mile march through downtown was capped by speeches from
a few marchers at Pershing Square, including one by UCLA graduate
student and MEChA member Ralph de Unamuno, who said he marched for
many reasons, but in particular for education reform.

“For us here at MEChA, we struggle for educational justice
““ we stand with the youth for solidarity,” Unamuno, a
second-year graduate American Indian Studies student, said through
a bullhorn.

“Some people say there isn’t enough room in the
schools for everyone,” he said, “But I say, if you can
fill the prisons, you can fill the schools.”

Likewise, Gabriel Perez, who recently graduated from UCLA with a
degree in urban planning, said he wants education reform.

“I’m here basically because people are united and
fighting for a few issues I’m interested in, especially
educational justice,” he said.

Perez said he would like to see more ethnic studies requirements
and the elimination of standardized testing.

The march mirrored last August’s 3.8-mile march from
Staples Center to Twin Towers Correctional Facility, which included
a long, chant-filled, police-lined walk, culminating in shout-outs
for myriad causes and a gradual and peaceful dispersal of the
crowd.

A year ago, people waved banners from windows to show support,
and pedestrians often fell into rank with the protesters.

Though a few passersby joined the march this year, outside
involvement was limited mostly to curiosity about what cause the
marchers were advocating and annoyance over the inconvenience.

As the protesters paused for a few minutes to regroup, one woman
waiting at a bus stop asked, “Why can’t they just stop
one block ahead? They’re holding up the bus.”

Another time, as a marcher offered a suit-and-tie-wearing man a
flyer on police brutality, the man offered the protester something
else in return: his business card. Neither the business card nor
the flier were accepted.

A flag was burned this year, too. As the group stood in front of
“Libros Revoluciones,” a bookstore on the way to
Pershing Square, they chanted: “The flag, the flag, the flag
is on fire. We don’t need no water…”

The flag burned.