one commentator on the police violence at the Poor People's march (via the NoRnc Listserve):

After an initial brief scuffle the police managed to get the barricade a

little over half way across the street and then stopped and radioed for help.

They then tried again to push the barricade through the crowd. By this point

many demonstrators had linked arms to block the progress of the barriers. As

this was happening 12-24 police in riot gear stormed the crowd from the north

with a two handed baton charge knocking down numerous demonstrators. Seconds

later about a dozen unmarked police scooters charged the crowd from the south

running into many of the people still on the ground. Police officers and

horses then cleared the intersection forcing demonstrators east on 29th St.

Eventually people were allowed to disperse and only a few arrests were made.



This event highlights the misuse of protest pens by the police. These barriers

have been an ongoing source of tension between demonstrators and police and

deny people of their basic right to freely assemble. The NYCLU

report “Arresting Protest” highlighted the misuse of pens at the Feb. 15, 2003

anti-war rally, and it is clear that this practice has continued despite a

court order to the contrary. As long as the police continue to aggressively

divide legal demonstrations in this way, they will have incidents of

confrontation. The job of the police should be to protect demonstrators and

the public and not to escalate confrontations through pointless micro

management of protests.