The Sept 22nd attacks, one year later (RTS)

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday August 13, 2002 02:03 by Just Another Poster on the IMC... - tong

Car Free Day - free the ball!

Looking at tactics in the run up to Car Free Day 2002.

As RTS takes to the streets again for European Car Free Day, its time to examine tactics in light of both last year's and this years MayDay clashes with the Gardai.

On Sept 22nd last year when the police confiscated the volleyball net and the footballs from the 'playground' on O'Connell Street, the focus then turned to the bikes locked together at the south end of O'Connell Street. The Gardai, having stolen the bikes, then cleared the street by force, throwing people into vans and picking up people off the road and pushing them onto the path. People resisted a bit but then the cops forcibly arrested some of those sitting down, and the crowd was forced up the street

On MayDay this year as the Gardai attempted to clear Dame Street, they took out their batons and much worse injuries were inflicted on people, and the good party vibe that had been present all day turned ugly.

In both cases people were resisting the Garda clearance of the street. That's fair enough - we dont want our RTS party spoiled by the morons in blue. But how much resistance are we going to put up this time? Is Dublin ready for a full-on bottles'n'bricks scrap with the Garda? Probably not. Most of us lack the physical presence of the Garda (but we make up for it in superior intelligence!), and trying to resist their batons and pushing and shoving will only get us hurt.

Taking a look at the Critical Mass over the past year or so is perhaps a good source of a tactic that works - keeping on the move. The CM is often hassled by cops on bikes who attempt to push people into a single lane. Most of the cyclists just ignore the cops and push back up the road to the crowd - safety in numbers. They can then spread out again and take over the whole street to slow down the traffic.

Whatever happens on Sept 22nd this year, the cops will eventually step in (more than likely at the back of the crowd) and do their pig thing and try to clear the street for traffic. If we stay mobile and stay together we can hold the street, and simply just walk away from the cops if they start clearing us on to the path. This is what happened in London this year on Mayday. Rather than let the cops break up the crowd and kill the party vibe, it ended up being like a 'Critical Mass on foot' (as someone described it on Urban75.com).

I'm not suggesting we have to run away every time the cops push us, but rather than giving some half-arsed gesture of 'I'm not moving' and then being pushed aside by a cop thats twice your height, just ignore the fucker and move on up the street slowly.

Before Sept 22nd, perhaps the Garda Press Office should be asked for a statement before the day's actions, about exactly how they intend to handle any kind of demonstration, and what their position is with the use of batons (and any other type of weapon). Another Garda position that should be made clear is that with regard to journalists/media people on the street covering the event. Are they going to confiscate footage again?

And finally, there's the position of GR/SWP in this. If they want to work with other groups in the city, then they will have to act more honourably than last time. Hopefully a representative of GR/SWP can comment about this on the newswire. They dont necessarily _have_ to contact anyone from RTS before they call a press conference or a protest relating to Sept 22nd, but maybe people would respect them more and think them less parasitical if they act intelligently and respect RTS's non-political affiliation. Same goes for any political organisation, especially with the selling of papers on the day. RTS is a street party, not a political party. Please respect the ethos!