Occupy's anarchists seen as both divisive, crucial

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/7/12 | Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer

[SmithL]

Every time windows are smashed and clashes erupt with police at Occupy protests in Oakland and San Francisco, one group is in the thick of it: masked, black-clad anarchists known as the Black Bloc.

Police say they are pure trouble and point to conflicts at last week's May Day rallies as the most recent example. Most pacifist protesters wish they would go away. Hard-core Occupiers say they like having them around to diversify their movement's tactics.

Exactly who makes up the Black Bloc is, by design, a bit of a mystery. Adherents rarely reveal their identity and say they aren't really a group at all, but come-and-go adopters of a tactic.

Some protesters say Black Bloc violence and vandalism undercuts the core Occupy message of advocating for more economic equality. Supporters, however, say the Black Bloc has a different definition of violence, particularly in dealing with police - and that Black Bloc anarchists are a force for protection of other demonstrators and assertive expression.

One young Black Bloc demonstrator at a "F- the Police" march held by Occupy Oakland in March said he felt he was part of "a revolution for the people that is not going away."

"I don't know anything about violence," he said. "Everything we do - it's about freedom of f- speech, freedom of gathering. We're in a revolution here. It's not business as usual."

Emotions run hot on both sides.

"The argument that they aren't doing violence is complete bull-," said Buck Bagot, an organizer with Occupy Bernal in San Francisco. "They say the real violence is from the system, and that's true. But that doesn't mean that what they do is right.

"You can get your point across without breaking things."

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Anarchists can function only where the 2nd Amendment cannot.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Exactly who makes up the Black Bloc is, by design, a bit of a mystery. Adherents rarely reveal their identity and say they aren’t really a group at all, but come-and-go adopters of a tactic.”

Hmm... CPUSA? Moveon.org? Obamas police force?

No mystery. Just ask.

[LucianOfSamasota]

"Property destruction by itself is not violence," said Chance Martin, an organizer with Occupy San Francisco. Rather, he said, damaging appropriate targets - such as a bank window - is a legitimate form of protest.

If someone got after his car windows or ipad with a sledge hammer I suspect we would see violence.

[Monitor]

Black Bloc, Sturmabteilung (brownshirts), macht nicht.

[thethirddegree]

Shoot back.

[RightFighter]

I really got into it with a friend on Facebook about this the other day. He is a generally smart guy, but he did vote for Obama in 2008. He claims to be undecided thus far for 2012. He believe that the Occupy protesters have a lot in common with the original tea partiers and that I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss people who are just exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and free assembly.

I was arguing that the cops should be given a green light to give their billy clubs a workout. In my opinion, this is like organized crime and they should be treated as such.

[UnwashedPeasant]

"Exactly who makes up the Black Bloc is, by design, a bit of a mystery."

We would know who they are if cops would arrest these criminals instead of shooting dogs and harassing little old ladies.

[Flatus I. Maximus]

The Black Bloc is not a secretive cabal, activists say. The technique has been used for at least 20 years in the United States, and the purpose of wearing black clothes and bandanna masks is simply to achieve anonymity - especially for those whose actions might draw police attention.

It seems not to have occurred to them that it also makes them easily identified targets.

At the root of the debate is the Black Bloc definition of violence and civil disobedience. Some believe that most vandalism and clashes with police don't constitute violence because they amount to self-defense in the service of a cause. [...] "Property destruction by itself is not violence," said Chance Martin, an organizer with Occupy San Francisco.

Sorry, kids. If you want to communicate with other people, you're not allowed to have your own private definitions of words.

"Of course it's perceived as confrontational by police," Smith said. "But they (Black Bloc-ers) really are just protecting the crowd by drawing more fire to themselves [...]"

Then why not give them what they want? I recommend 12-gauge light trap loads, aimed at the legs. As I recall from 40 years ago the sight of just two or three of their buddies laying on the street, bleeding, writhing, and screaming their lungs out from superficial wounds, was sufficient to send the rest of the little sh!ts running and crying back to mommy and daddy's house in the suburbs.

"They say the real violence is from the system...

Be careful what you wish for, kids. You ain't seen real violence yet.