Penning Protests in New York

Thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, protesters in New York will be corralled together in tightly controlled police pens. But some plan to break out. With Monday's ruling against an orderly, nonviolent protest march anywhere on the streets of Manhattan this Saturday, U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones has steered the City of New York toward chaos.

Though event organizer United for Peace and Justice has stated its willingness to follow any route the New York Police Department designates, the only legal option at hand is for antiwar demonstrators to be massed in tightly controlled police pens stretching far up First Avenue, north of the United Nations. The current thin strip of a rally is expected to stretch up to some 25 blocks from its starting point north of the UN -- effectively makes any spectacular televised scenes of a vast, anti-war crowd gathered in Central Park impossible. (Before they decided they would accept any route for the march, UJFP wanted to march past the UN, then west, then up through Times Square and along Seventh Avenue to Central Park.)

It is expected that many will seek to avoid the pens and hope to sow confusion all around Manhattan. The online discussion of such tactics, honed at past free-form protests, suggest using cell phones to coordinate splinter actions. One contributor to the NYC Indymedia Center Web site called for: "a tactical plan for wide-scale CD [civil disobedience] throughout Manhattan. This could include surprise "people's inspections" of various corporate and governmental sites, traffic lockdowns, a mass die-in, street theater, prayer vigils, snowball fights, you name it. It's time to be both bold and creative. Let's transform Feb. 15 into a carnival of peace and resistance throughout Manhattan all afternoon. Save the protest pit for last call."

This is among the more temperate postings. Another stated mildly, "We can't settle for tired megaphone speakers inside a protest pen encircled by police--we gotta bust out into the streets."

It is unclear how many of the currently 29 UFPJ-sanctioned "feeder" marches -- by groups such as the "Queer Anti-War Contingent," the "Interfaith Ministers for Peace," not to mention the "Anarchist Red & Black Contingent" and the "Anti-Capitalist Bloc" -- will disperse and go off on their own.

As the national coordinator for the Independent Progressive Politics Network, which normally focuses on alternatives to the two major parties, Ted Glick represents such groups as the National Lawyers Guild and the Green Party. An organizer of Saturday's demonstration, Glick does not advocate illegally taking it to the streets, saying in an interview, "I doubt there will be a breach of police barricades -- it will be absolutely peaceful and nonviolent. We're not looking for a confrontation, but to manifest the views of millions of people."

Glick added that the city is seeking to discourage attendance by forbidding a march. "But to the extent they don't cooperate with those of us with a history of organizing peaceful demonstrations, then they put a lot of stress on what can happen," he said.

Brian Dominick, a veteran of many demonstrations, wondered about an exit strategy for both citizens and the cops. Based on his experience, he expects the marchers to prevail, "Unless the police want to keep us penned up there for hours on end, it's going to be chaos. In reality, there's going to be a march. People will be at a rally pumped up for it, and that's the natural inclination."

The ruling has seemingly transformed a largely self-policing, follow-your-nose, chant-and-sing march into an unpredictable and potentially chaotic cat-and-mouse struggle. Rampant hooliganism will besmirch the peace movement, true, but the ban itself is a black-eye for civil liberties in a country touting itself as a democratic example to the world.