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wingedkat 1
Stuff like "ACAB" and "fuck the police" are why I dont participate in marches like this one, despite my relatively rafmdical beliefs. Turned me off of occupy as well, although I started out a camper.
Posted by wingedkat on July 17, 2012 at 4:59 PM
wingedkat 2
Heh, "rafmdical" is a fantastic typo. Now I need to figure out what it means!
Posted by wingedkat on July 17, 2012 at 5:02 PM
3
It wasn't just that the clothes were new, but that each of these "black bloc" folks had gloves on (on a warm sunny day) and little markers like pink duct tape and pink armbands, which would be very helpful to ensure other cops know to leave them alone. (Pictures at this post...http://pugetsoundanarchists.org/node/1869)
Posted by bookworm on July 17, 2012 at 5:06 PM
4
@3: If you look at the two photos, several protesters have stylish pink accents on their anarchist club uniforms.
Posted by J.R. on July 17, 2012 at 5:13 PM
Joe Szilagyi 5
Breaking: SPD raid KIleys home for anarchist materials.
Posted by Joe Szilagyi http://twitter.com/joeszi on July 17, 2012 at 5:22 PM
Will in Seattle 6
@4 that must be the ones they bought at Nike Anarchist Outlet ...
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on July 17, 2012 at 5:22 PM
Fnarf 7
This is a glimpse of our rafmdical future, wherein your ability to participate in the political process will be determined by whether a shouting group of playacting morons thinks your clothes are right.
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on July 17, 2012 at 5:38 PM
sirkowski 8
The bald guy in the upper right corner looks much more like a cop.
Posted by sirkowski http://www.missdynamite.com on July 17, 2012 at 5:46 PM
9
Judging by the comments, is is no wonder that Al-Qaida targets Americans.
Posted by You All Suck on July 17, 2012 at 5:50 PM
10
I don't know about the Anarchists, but it looks like some cops infiltrated Kiley's laptop and broke his keyboard judging by all the typos in that post.
Posted by tkc on July 17, 2012 at 5:51 PM
gloomy gus 11
I could see his hoodie had a tag from Red LIght on it. 'You bought a hoodie just for this? You didn't have any hoodies already?' I queried the could-be-cop. 'My other ones all reeked of MIlk of Magnesia," whined the possible policeman. 'And your nose ring,' I persevered, as his porcine-ish-y eyes darted desperately from my steely gaze, 'it appears to be a clip-on, not an actual piercing, is that right?'

'I used to have a pierced one,' he whimpered, 'but it got infected. My nasal passages were all swollen. I gave it up, I couldn't smell a thing. Look, I gotta go take a serious shit.' WIth that the agent-probablement-provocateur hastened away on his not-creased-much boots.

Couldn't smell a thing, eh? thought I, narrowing my eyes at the crypto-storm trooper scuttling away. Smells like bacon to me.
Posted by gloomy gus on July 17, 2012 at 6:06 PM
12
Nobody had the presence of mind to take face photos of these guys? When everybody has a camera on their cell phone?
Posted by Citizen R on July 17, 2012 at 6:17 PM
DOUG. 13
There are undercover cops at all these protest marches. The real question is whether they are there to observe, or to incite.
Posted by DOUG. http://www.dougsvotersguide.com on July 17, 2012 at 6:17 PM
malcolmxy 14
Anarchist March - Oxymoron (unless someone is celebrating Anarchists in the month of March, but it doesn't seem that way).
Posted by malcolmxy on July 17, 2012 at 6:18 PM
mikethehammer 15
@14,

You mean "= Oxymoron", I presume? And seriously... Because they advocate for an anarchist agenda they're not allowed to have a single organized event or structure to their lives? Are they allowed to store food in a refrigerator or cabinet or does their chosen ideology require them to subsist on warm ketchup packets splattered against a wall?
Posted by mikethehammer on July 17, 2012 at 7:05 PM
16
Lenin would've called these supposed anarchists useful idiots.
Posted by ryanmm on July 17, 2012 at 7:16 PM
17
Can't imagine why the cops would want to watch these folks. Nope, no reason at all.

Posted by giffy on July 17, 2012 at 8:40 PM
18
This is the kind of stuff that drove me away from the Occupy movement. I, too, had clean looking clothes, and a fresh haircut, and they acted like they thought I was a cop. Basically if you didn't look like a bum, you were accused of being an undercover cop. If your hair was short, they thought you were a Nazi.
Posted by BallardBoy on July 17, 2012 at 9:13 PM
19
Next time, the protestors should all dress up as cops.
Posted by madcap on July 18, 2012 at 1:34 AM
Timrrr 20
You know, you kinda look like a cop to me too...

All of you do!
Posted by Timrrr on July 18, 2012 at 1:52 AM
fabriziodisco 21
god damn . there where "balckcopbloc" at the march and all this bickering is pointless as the protectors of the 1% say "get a job"
Posted by fabriziodisco on July 18, 2012 at 2:20 AM
GlamB0t 22
I can put aside the ninja attire. I also understand wanting to avoid special attention by the "20% of the time, we'll fuck you up every time" SPD, but I don't understand why gloves are necessary...
Posted by GlamB0t on July 18, 2012 at 6:42 AM
bleedingheartlibertarian 23
If the choice is between messy markets and buggy democracy on one hand, and a smelly paranoid mob on the other...count me in for the establishment.
Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian on July 18, 2012 at 7:45 AM
24
you're not really a libertarian if you actually believe what you just said.
Posted by thursday9038450348 on July 18, 2012 at 9:40 AM
smade 25
If the good cops stand idly by and say nothing while the bastard cops are being bastards, the good cops aren't quite as good as they think they are.
Posted by smade on July 18, 2012 at 9:45 AM
26
Brendan,

Thank you for the best non-anarchist coverage of anarchist politics and action that I've ever seen. That said, your digression about ACAB is really off base. It may very well deserve a break, just like "Whose streets?" and "This is what democracy looks like," deserve permanent retirement, but to assert that if all cops are bastards then all of us are bastards is stupid. We are all to some degree complicit in the capitalist machine, but we by and large have no choice. Cops have a choice: they could by plumbers, or work at Dick's, or take tickets at a movie theater, or they could just live under abridge somewhere. I've known cops, some have the capacity to be caring and warm individuals, but they are still cops, meaning their job is to maintain the power structure that anarchists oppose. There is no reconciling that. Sure, maybe liberals, leftoids, and progressives don't like it, but anarchists aren't interested in watering down our beliefs for the sake of building a mass movement. It surprises me that this has still managed to escape you.
Posted by nihil on July 18, 2012 at 12:40 PM
treacle 27
NICK: ...hate cops, Guido. I'll always hate cops!
GUIDO: Yeah, Nick, I hate cops too!
PAOLO: Yeah! Me too!
NICK: I'll tell you guys what I'm gonna do! I'll tell ya' what! I'm gonna get even with every rotten cop in this city!
PAOLO: Yeah! Me too!
GUIDO: How ya gonna do it, Nick? How ya gonna do it?
NICK: You know what I'm gonna do?
GUIDO: No, no, Nick! Whatcha gonna do?
NICK: I'm gonna... turn in my badgel
GUIDO: Yeah,.. YEAH!
PAOLO: Yeah! Yeah!
GUIDO: Yeah! I'm gonna burn my uniform!
Posted by treacle on July 18, 2012 at 1:29 PM
treacle 28
26, The conversation about whether cops would exist if people simply didn't apply for the position, versus the system's reliance on a police force, versus the (any?) other options out there for maintaining civil justice in an inherently chaotic system is a long and hairy one. I have had thoughtful conversations about what it would take to successful evolve society to a point where cops are simply not necessary. I don't believe there are any simply or easy or even obvious solutions, and I'd be happy to empanel a discussion group about that very topic.

That said, running around yelling ACAB! is actively counterproductive. 1. It will bring more heat on you, as in the cops will be specifically interested in tracking you down, because of the implied potential you will do them violence of one form or another. 2. It alienates people like me who have radical politics but knows when and where to pick their battles. 3. It alienates most other people as well, who like it when the cops return their stolen car, or catch the burglar in their apartment. 4. It is wholly ineffective, as the goal of abolishing the police is so far from achievable that you are effectively wasting your time.

So you isolate yourselves into a small, hardcore, angry group, and attract extra police attention.

Not a very effective strategy, assuming you want to actually, you know, change society for the better.

You can say "we're not watering down our beliefs for the sake of building a mass movement", but you're clearly NOT building a mass movement in any sense of the word. You don't have to water down your beliefs, you can still dislike the police all you want. But you have to know what is achievable, and when to focus on goals that serve your greater strategy. "ACAB" fails on many fronts.

More...
Posted by treacle on July 18, 2012 at 1:47 PM

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