I went to the protest. it was great fun. First we blocked off 9th and Market, then 10th and Market, then Van Ness and Market. There were no polices. We stole a cone and turned it into a megaphone. a pro war man stood ontop of his mini van with a sign that said 'support your troops. go war.' the anarchists in the crowd (they covered their faces and moved in crowds) ripped the sign from the guys hands and ripped it up on the street
Then we took the underground to Market and Montogomery. There was a lot of police there and they had everything under control. the people were massing on the sidewalks, the fire department was cutting through the people locked together with the metal tubes. We ditched the cone and stole a bucket and made a drum. we watched as they turned public transit buses into arrested people's transportation buses. the police also used them to get around. the police all had riot gear, teargas guns, and batons.
a lot of the time at montgomery we spent insulting the cops (get your donuts here. get your bags of steak fajitas here. do you know why the pigs look so unhappy? its because they are wearing those hot bullet proof vests and those hot helmets and they eat too much)
nothing much was happening so we headed off of market and then back onto it, around the police blockade. this was 4th and market now. the intersection was also closed. on the south side of the intersection, the police had formed a line and they were starting to push the crowd back. a group of 30 police officers parted through the crowd were we were on the north side. we follwed right behind them beating the drum until they went into their 'attack formation' then we skipped around the block and got onto the other side.
we were about 3 feet from the cops as they steadily advanced and pushed us back to the next intersection. again, we were insulting them. this one girl got beat with a baton because she got too close to the advancing line. when we got to 5th and market, the police had blocked off three of the four streets. so the whole crowd headed off of market and walked toward the federal building, city hall, or around the police blockade and back onto market.
we got separted at that point. we got back onto market street. the police were in the north, and suddenly while we were walking towards the protestors, the police started running towards us and cut off the protestors from the south on market street. the first officer who was cutting us off was a short latina. she ran into me and hit me with her baton. i fell into my friend, and we both hit the ground. we were the last to cross the line into that protest group. we kept on walking forward looking for our friends, but they werent there. with police in both the north and south, they let us escape through a narrow corridor.
we then went to mel's drive in on Van Ness and Geary. the friends who got separted called us and started to come to the diner. while we were eating, the protest passed up going north on Van Ness. We saw a lot of our friends go by. after finishing eating, and reunited with my friends, we walked north on Van Ness. We passed the gas station on Pine and Van Ness which had like 150 police all standing around. When we got to California Street, we saw the protestors at the top of the hill, on taylor street. We could also watch their progress by where all the helicopters were located (There were like five) we then walked and caught up with the tail end of them at Mason Street. There is a steep hill going downwards which leads into the Financial District and you could see thousands of people walking. it was a great sight.
we the joined the main crowd when the march tunred onto market. we met two more groups of friends at the sit down.
we then got a report that the federal building needed some help, so we went there. there were about 50 protestors at the time and about 10 cops. hundreds of people converged on the same place at the same time. at first the cops tried to keep us back on the sidewalks, but we pushed them back until their backs were against the wall. we left right before they were about to break it up.
on the way home, i found one of those steel pipes that the protestors used to chain their hands together. it had been sawed off by the SFFD and was lying on the side of the street. i took it home.
i learned later that three of my friends had been arrested and then released.
it was my first protest and it was really fun.
Then we took the underground to Market and Montogomery. There was a lot of police there and they had everything under control. the people were massing on the sidewalks, the fire department was cutting through the people locked together with the metal tubes. We ditched the cone and stole a bucket and made a drum. we watched as they turned public transit buses into arrested people's transportation buses. the police also used them to get around. the police all had riot gear, teargas guns, and batons.
a lot of the time at montgomery we spent insulting the cops (get your donuts here. get your bags of steak fajitas here. do you know why the pigs look so unhappy? its because they are wearing those hot bullet proof vests and those hot helmets and they eat too much)
nothing much was happening so we headed off of market and then back onto it, around the police blockade. this was 4th and market now. the intersection was also closed. on the south side of the intersection, the police had formed a line and they were starting to push the crowd back. a group of 30 police officers parted through the crowd were we were on the north side. we follwed right behind them beating the drum until they went into their 'attack formation' then we skipped around the block and got onto the other side.
we were about 3 feet from the cops as they steadily advanced and pushed us back to the next intersection. again, we were insulting them. this one girl got beat with a baton because she got too close to the advancing line. when we got to 5th and market, the police had blocked off three of the four streets. so the whole crowd headed off of market and walked toward the federal building, city hall, or around the police blockade and back onto market.
we got separted at that point. we got back onto market street. the police were in the north, and suddenly while we were walking towards the protestors, the police started running towards us and cut off the protestors from the south on market street. the first officer who was cutting us off was a short latina. she ran into me and hit me with her baton. i fell into my friend, and we both hit the ground. we were the last to cross the line into that protest group. we kept on walking forward looking for our friends, but they werent there. with police in both the north and south, they let us escape through a narrow corridor.
we then went to mel's drive in on Van Ness and Geary. the friends who got separted called us and started to come to the diner. while we were eating, the protest passed up going north on Van Ness. We saw a lot of our friends go by. after finishing eating, and reunited with my friends, we walked north on Van Ness. We passed the gas station on Pine and Van Ness which had like 150 police all standing around. When we got to California Street, we saw the protestors at the top of the hill, on taylor street. We could also watch their progress by where all the helicopters were located (There were like five) we then walked and caught up with the tail end of them at Mason Street. There is a steep hill going downwards which leads into the Financial District and you could see thousands of people walking. it was a great sight.
we the joined the main crowd when the march tunred onto market. we met two more groups of friends at the sit down.
we then got a report that the federal building needed some help, so we went there. there were about 50 protestors at the time and about 10 cops. hundreds of people converged on the same place at the same time. at first the cops tried to keep us back on the sidewalks, but we pushed them back until their backs were against the wall. we left right before they were about to break it up.
on the way home, i found one of those steel pipes that the protestors used to chain their hands together. it had been sawed off by the SFFD and was lying on the side of the street. i took it home.
i learned later that three of my friends had been arrested and then released.
it was my first protest and it was really fun.
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