I'm pissed off! About 70 black clad Anarchists broke away from an unscheduled un-permitted march that started from Occupy Seattle's May Day event at Westlake Park in Downtown Seattle, and they went on a rampage of vandalism smashing store windows and targeting Nike Town in a coordinated and planned spasm of destruction for the cameras. They wanted to hijack the day Occupy Seattle was launching a new season of political activism, and make it all about them and their miniature riot for the media.
I didn't arrive at Westlake Park until after the noon march that was one of two marches the originated at Westlake and weren't part of Occupy Seattle's official agenda for the day's events, so I can't provide a first hand account of what happened, but I sure heard about it on the Seattle radio stations, who were ominously making it out to be a second WTO Protest. When I arrive at Westlake people were abuzz about the earlier events, and many participants I talked to were expressing a lot of dismay and resentment toward the Anarchists.
I did join the second march "To Stop the Killing" from Westlake Park to the Seattle Center and the John T. Williams Memorial Totem.
During the return march I was near the front and since it wasn't an organized event the marchers seemed unsure which way to go when they reached a number of intersections, in one case some marchers started up one street only to turn back after going a half a block. So the march seemed to meander its way through the Denny Regrade neighborhood north of downtown. We ended up going down 1st Ave. and turning left onto Pike in front of the Pike Place Market. Then the marchers slowed down. I was standing on the sidewalk along Pike Street in front of the Planet Hollywood when SPD took some guy's flag away from him behind me starting a tussle that turned into a brief chase when the flag bearer broke away from Police brushing by me as he was tackled by a cop from behind, both of them landing on the sidewalk right in front of me.
The third march from Seattle's largely Black Central District to the Wells Fargo Bank and the Federal Building was completely peaceful.
Here is how the local Anarchist's website talks about vandalism and destruction.
Why All the Smashy-Smashy? A Beginner's Guide to Targeted Property Destruction
It says property destruction is a way to really grab the attention of the corporate Business' owners. It also grabs a lot of negative attention from the general public that gets associated with Occupy Seattle and the whole OWS movement. I think it is counterproductive and harms the larger movement's popularity and makes identifying with it harder for average Americans.
I see the Anarchists an orgy destruction in Seattle's commercial core as more of an orgy of narcissism by a group of poseur revolutionaries than anything else. As such it's sure to become fodder for Fox New's campaign to demonize the OWS movement.
And there was a beautiful view
But nobody could see.
Cause everybody on the island
Was saying: Look ot me! Look at me!
Look at me! Look at me!
~ From Laurie Anderson's Language is a virus