by Sarah Ferguson

Village Voice

08/26/04

Is it just us, or are these scary stories about anarchists plotting mayhem at the Republican convention starting to read like a preemptive hit? Just today the Daily News led with 'Police Intelligence Warning: Anarchy Inc. Hard-core troublemakers a threat to the Republican Convention.' This kind of coverage sets the stage for brutal treatment of even peaceful activists. At last fall's Free Trade of the Americas summit in Miami, police fed media hysteria about the ugly hordes descending on the city to justify their Rambo-like assault on union members and nonviolent demonstrators with rubber bullets and taser guns. ... Whatever the source of these overblown threats and warnings, the effect may be to instill in peaceful protesters a fear of turning out for demonstrations, and in cops an animosity toward demonstrators -- making confrontations on the street all the more inevitable...

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0434/ferguson4.php


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp